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<p>The article discusses the relevance of epistemic authorities in the field of illegitimate knowledge, with a&#xa0;particular focus on small life worlds of vaccine skeptics during the COVID-19 pandemic. From a&#xa0;sociology of knowledge perspective, we explore how illegitimate knowledge emerges as a&#xa0;product of social and discursive mechanisms of exclusion. Based on qualitative interviews and vignette-based focus groups, we analyze how such authorities are negotiated and established in the life worlds of vaccine skeptics and how they contribute to the consolidation of attitudes critical of public health interventions. Our findings show that in the realm of illegitimate knowledge, epistemic authorities gain recognition by addressing questions of high complexity with definitiveness that institutionalized scientific communities cannot provide with evidence. Furthermore, the results highlight the transfer of symbolic capital—such as the professional recognition associated with medical expertise—from legitimate to illegitimate knowledge. This transfer, along with the role of lifeworld embeddedness, plays a&#xa0;vital role in stabilizing these authorities. At the same time, we also point to their precarious dependence on current discourses. Finally, the paper emphasizes that productive exclusion through legitimate knowledge opens new spaces for alternative bodies of knowledge and stresses the central role of lifeworld negotiation processes in knowledge production.</p>

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Wer spricht im illegitimen Wissen? Über die Relevanz epistemischer Autoritäten in den Lebenswelten von Impfskeptiker:innen

  • 期刊论文

  • 出版模式：

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  • 发表日期：

    2025年5月13日

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  • Katharina Miko-Schefzig,
  • Markus Trimmel,
  • Michaela Pfadenhauer

摘要

The article discusses the relevance of epistemic authorities in the field of illegitimate knowledge, with a particular focus on small life worlds of vaccine skeptics during the COVID-19 pandemic. From a sociology of knowledge perspective, we explore how illegitimate knowledge emerges as a product of social and discursive mechanisms of exclusion. Based on qualitative interviews and vignette-based focus groups, we analyze how such authorities are negotiated and established in the life worlds of vaccine skeptics and how they contribute to the consolidation of attitudes critical of public health interventions. Our findings show that in the realm of illegitimate knowledge, epistemic authorities gain recognition by addressing questions of high complexity with definitiveness that institutionalized scientific communities cannot provide with evidence. Furthermore, the results highlight the transfer of symbolic capital—such as the professional recognition associated with medical expertise—from legitimate to illegitimate knowledge. This transfer, along with the role of lifeworld embeddedness, plays a vital role in stabilizing these authorities. At the same time, we also point to their precarious dependence on current discourses. Finally, the paper emphasizes that productive exclusion through legitimate knowledge opens new spaces for alternative bodies of knowledge and stresses the central role of lifeworld negotiation processes in knowledge production.