Social Movements and Politics During COVID-19 : Crisis, Solidarity and Change in a Global Pandemic

EPUB and EPDF available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. The COVID-19 pandemic has deeply shaken societies and lives around the world. This powerful book reveals how the pandemic has intensified socio-economic problems and inequalities across the world whilst offering visions for a better future informed by social movements and public sociology. Bringing together experts from 27 countries, the authors explore the global echoes of the pandemic and the different responses adopted by governments, policy makers and activists. The new expressions of social action, and forms of solidarity and protest, are discussed in detail, from the Black Lives Matter protests to the French Strike Movement and the Lebanese Uprising. This is a unique global analysis on the current crisis and the contemporary world and its outcomes.EPUB and EPDF available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. The COVID-19 pandemic has deeply shaken societies and lives around the world. This powerful book reveals how the pandemic has intensified socio-economic problems and inequalities across the world whilst offering visions for a better future informed by social movements and public sociology. Bringing together experts from 27 countries, the authors explore the global echoes of the pandemic and the different responses adopted by governments, policy makers and activists. The new expressions of social action, and forms of solidarity and protest, are discussed in detail, from the Black Lives Matter protests to the French Strike Movement and the Lebanese Uprising. This is a unique global analysis on the current crisis and the contemporary world and its outcomes Front Cover Social Movements and Polotics During Covid-19: Crisis, Solidarity and Change in a Global Pandemic Copyright information Dedication Table of contents Notes on Contributors Introduction: A Global Dialogue on the Pandemic Thinking globally From pandemic to social change Challenges in the global pandemic COVID- 19 governance, politics and the ambivalence of states Crisis, inequalities and solidarities Social movements, mutual aid and self- reliance during the pandemic ‘COVID-19 will not kill the revolution’: Protest movements in the pandemic Critical thinking and emerging theoretical challenges Critical thinking and emerging theoretical challenges Post-pandemic transitions and futures in contention Acknowledgements and platforms for a global dialogue PART I COVID-19 Governance, Politics and the Ambivalence of States 1 COVID-19 Governance: State Expansion, Capitalist Resilience and Democracy Resilience of capitalism Politicization of central-bank capitalism State-facilitated expansion of civic autonomy Autonomous organizing in pandemic times Politicization of economy and (radicalization of) democracy References 2 Three Political Regimes, Three Responses to the COVID-19 Crisis Response 1: Authoritarian state capitalism Response 2: Right-wing populism A Western European response: a mixed model? Response 3: The welfare state State and health sovereignty Democracy: a condition for efficiency Moderate socialism Revive the welfare state Notes References 3 Universal Social Protection Floors: A Joint Responsibility Limited political responses to the COVID-19 crisis Towards a robust social protection floor An affordable proposal and a joint responsibility References 4 Labour Activism and State Repression in Indonesia A country in deep denial The government’s public health response Economic and political concerns Organized labour responds 5 Harmoniously Denied: China’s Censorship on COVID-19 Living with censorship Censorship and societal resilience Censorship and (global) science Concluding words Note References 6 State Repression in the Philippines during COVID-19 and Beyond The Anti-Terrorism Act: An attack on democratic principles Inequalities and human rights in the Philippines: the context A people’s movement that persists COVID-19 and control: when a pandemic becomes a tool of repression References 7 Normality Was the Problem Human arrogance The first epidemic of the ecological crisis International co-operation and political responses Individual and social dimensions Back to normality? Notes PART II Crisis, Inequalities and Solidarities 8 Divided We Stand: What the Pandemic Tells Us about the Contemporary US Deepened inequalities Data colonization amid the pandemic From intersecting oppressions to voter suppression Oppressions unveiled, again Notes References 9 The Data Gaps of the Pandemic: Data Poverty and Forms of Invisibility Two types of data gaps Data poverty in low-income countries Data poverty as a form of invisibility Countering data poverty: collective solidarities from below References 10 Necropolitics and Biopower in the Pandemic: Death, Social Control or Well-being Necropolitics and the killer phase of capitalism Health systems and biopower Some possibilities for the future 11 COVID-19 in the Urban Peripheries: Perspectives from the Favelas of Rio de Janeiro Between desertion of the state and solidarity No health, no water and ‘social isolation’ Alternatives from inside Notes References 12 Generational Inequalities in Argentina’s Working-Class Neighbourhoods Young people from the barrios populares Strengthening community organization Is lockdown a class privilege? The emergence and persistence of generational inequality Youth resistance, expansion of the public sector and equality policies Conclusion Note References 13 Pandemic Pedagogical Lessons and Educational Inequalities The place of schools in the political-health crisis: the Argentinean case Beyond Argentina: the school under threat Learning from history to build a new political-pedagogical imagination The school in a pandemic context The democratization of science and the defence of public school What about the day after? Notes References 14 Social Work with Homeless People in Belgium Social work with homeless people in Charleroi The challenges of doing social work in times of sanitary crisis Perspectives 15 Community Spaces in India: Constructing Solidarity during the Pandemic Context: challenges to solidarity Earlier plagues Rethinking solidarity through community spaces Community kitchen Conclusion Notes References PART III Social Movements, Mutual Aid and Self-Reliance during COVID-19 16 Social Movements in the Emergence of a Global Pandemic Crisis and alternative forms of protest Uncertainty and new spaces for innovation 17 COVID-19 and the Reconfiguration of the Social Movements Landscape Social movements, crises and new conflict structures Changing dynamics: increasing inequalities, progressive mobilization and regressive counter-mobilization COVID-19-denial movement Conclusion Note References 18 Social Movements as Essential Services in Toronto COVID-19-era movements in Toronto: four models Essential workers Defending the most vulnerable Disruption against exploitation Mutual aid, direct action and immediate support Social movements in times of pandemic and beyond Note References 19 Creating a Hyperlocal Infrastructure of Care: COVID-19 Mutual Aid Groups in the UK The political power of mutual aid Mutual aid groups and hyperlocal digital organizing The digital infrastructure of mutual aid groups Two models of organizing: mutual aid groups and the NHS Volunteer Responders service Conclusion: community resilience and political implications References 20 ‘Solidarity, Not Charity’: Emotions as Cultural Challenge for Grassroots Activism The emotional culture of neoliberalism: between fear and narcissism Why grassroots activism matters Emergence of a counter-hegemonic emotional culture Notes References 21 Self-Reliance as an Answer to the Pandemic: Hopes from India’s Margins Women farmers and community-supported agriculture Communities safeguarding themselves against COVID-19 Self-reliance in tribal communities Small-scale manufacturing Lessons from the margins 22 Social Movements and Self-Reliance: Community Mobilization in South Africa Context Protest and movement: the bigger picture Community Organizing Working Group Conclusion Notes 23 Resilience, Reworking and Resistance in New York City Disaster budgeting Working-class movements in the city The centrality of police reform and Black Lives Matter COVID-19 and policing: twinned crises Note References PART IV ‘The COVID Will Not Kill the Revolution’: Protest Movements in the Pandemic 24 ‘Defund the Police’: Strategy and Struggle for Racial Justice in the US What made the spark become a fire? Mutual aid networks A long-term horizon A new phase of the struggle for racial justice? Notes 25 A Matter of Survival: The Lebanese Uprising in Times of Pandemic A context of multiple crises A ruling class ‘more dangerous than the virus’ Protesting is a matter of survival Justice as the first remedy References 26 Hong Kong: From Democratic Protests to Medical Workers’ Strikes in a Pandemic The political context Revitalizing the role of organized Labour Strong public backing from broken government legitimacy Strong membership and cross-sector union support Outcomes of the strike Future of democratic and labour movements in Hong Kong 27 Morocco, Algeria and Tunisia: A Return to Authoritarianism after the Revolutions? A defused revolution? A systemic revolt against neoliberalism A triple crisis From the health crisis to the reinvention of politics Notes 28 The French Strike Movement: Keeping up the Struggle in Times of COVID-19 Chronology of the strike Did the movement stop? Maintaining contention by building solidarity Notes References PART V Critical Thinking and Emerging Theoretical Challenges 29 COVID-19, Risk and Social Change Risks and threats, vulnerability and resilience State and para-state answers, individualism and solidarity Some present developments Conclusion References 30 Challenges to Critical Thinking: Social Life and the Pandemic The construction of ‘the common’: the nation and the national level The individual and the collective: the individual as a threat Social regulation as domination Conclusion Note 31 A Sociology for a Post-COVID-19 Society Multilevel focuses: from community to humanity Struggle against the Anthropocene/Capitalocene Politics of recognition and moral obligation Conclusion Note References 32 The Paradox of Disturbance: Africa and COVID-19 A dialogus mortuorum between an African ancestral spirit and Ludwig Wittgenstein Back to the beginning Notes References 33 We Are All Mortal: From the Empty Signifier to the Open Nature of History What is or is not the pandemic and where does it lead us? The battle to narrate the future Disturbance of omnipotence and lucidity of precariousness The here and now: recovering the fabric of communal reciprocity Note 34 The COVID-19 Pandemic and the Crisis of Care Complexity and women Informal work and women Caring at home Conclusion References PART VI Post-Pandemic Transitions and Futures in Contention 35 Global Chaos and the New Geopolitics of Power and Resistances New trends in global power: neither de-globalization nor the end of capitalist globalization Contentious scales: virus contention and social protests Geopolitical scenarios and the struggles for the future Notes References 36 Denialism, ‘Gattopardism’ and Transitionism Denialism and gattopardism Transitionism Conclusion 37 COVID-19, the Gift and Post-Neoliberal Scenarios Before and after COVID-19: continuities and ruptures Major scenarios for the future Possible developments: state, market and society COVID-19 as an extraordinary event References 38 Post-Pandemic Transitions in a Civilizational Perspective The recommunalization of social life The relocalization of social, productive and cultural activities The strengthening of autonomies The depatriarchalization, de-racialization and decolonization of social relations The liberation of the earth Notes References 39 The World That Is Coming: Pandemic, Movements and Change Opening new horizons Three lessons from the global financial crisis Movements and countermovements A fragmented battlefield Conclusion Notes References Index Back Cover EPUB and EPDF available Open Access under CC-BY-NC-ND licence. Bringing together leading authors in the sociology and social movement fields from all continents, this unique book explores both the global echoes of the pandemic and the different local and national responses adopted by different actors. The authors reveal how the pandemic exacerbates inequalities across the world whilst opening up new solidarities and hopes for a better future.