Brian Martin (professor)
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Dr Brian Martin is associate professor in Science, Technology and Society at the University of Wollongong, Australia. A formally trained physicist, Martin's current research interests include nonviolence, whistleblowing and intellectual property.
Martin is one of the originators of "backfire theory", which analyzes the political forces at play in cases where repression or injustice inflicted on vulnerable groups in society "backfires" against the perpetrators of the injustice. According to Martin's theory, authorities commonly use five distinct methods to prevent injustice backfiring: cover-up, devaluing the target, re-interpreting events, using official channels and using intimidation and bribery.
Martin is the author of a number of books on nonviolence, dissent and democracy, including Nonviolence Speaks: Communicating against Repression (with Wendy Varney), Nonviolence versus capitalism , and Technology for Nonviolent Struggle.
[edit] External links
Part of Brian Martin's website on suppression of dissent is
"What Happens When Science Goes Bad. The Corruption of Science and the Origin of AIDS: A Study in Spontaneous Generation," to which Brian Martin wrote the introduction.
This unpublished essay is located at: http://www.uow.edu.au/arts/sts/bmartin/dissent/documents/AIDS/Pascal91.html
