Pandemic of Perspectives: Creative Re-imaginings

Description

This volume brings together academics, activists, social work practitioners, poets, and artists from different parts of the world during the Covid-19 pandemic. It sheds light on how the pandemic has exposed the inequities in society and is shaping social institutions, affecting human relationships, and creating new norms with each passing day. It examines how people from diverse societies and fields of work have come to conceptualise and imagine a new world order based on the principles of social and ecological justice, care, and human dignity. It prioritises the realm of imagination, creativity, and affect in understanding social formations and in shaping societies beyond the positivist approaches. Documenting the myriad experiences and responses to the pandemic, the volume foregrounds varied processes of making meaning; understanding impulses, resistances, and coping mechanisms; and building solidarities. Further, it also acts as a tool of memory for future generations, and articulations- artistic, political, socio-cultural, scientific- of hope and perseverance. This spectrum of expressions intends to value visceral experiences, build solidarities, and find solace in art. Its uniqueness lies in the way it brings together a much-needed interface between science, social sciences, and humanities. A compelling account on our contemporary lives, the volume will be of great interest to scholars of sociology and social anthropology, politics, art and aesthetics, psychology, social work, literature, health, and medical sciences. Cover Half Title Title Page Copyright Page Dedication Table of Contents List of Artworks Acknowledgements List of Contributors Introduction Responses to Covid-19 Essential and Non-essential ‘Social Distancing’ Social Media Where Is the Communion? Diverse, Unequal Experiences Care and Labour Pandemic of Perspectives Touch Home and the World Governance Religion and Godlessness Creative Communications Questioning the ‘Normal’ and the Normative Education Of Trauma and Loss Creative Re-imaginings Looking Back, Looking Ahead Note References Touch Chapter 1: My Tango Life Cancelled: 8 March – 3 May 2020 Day 1: My Tango Life Cancelled Day 10: I Haven’t Touched Anyone Day 21: My Skin Stings without Touch, Like Hands Submerged into a Winter River Day 30: The Great Fortune of a Pre-Covid-19 Death Day 56: Tango Is a Pain Worth Longing For Day 189: Broken Vows Chapter 2: Poems Come Eat My Lotus Heart Limits ‘For Calling the Spirit Back from Wandering the Earth in Its Human Feet’ Chapter 3: Refugee Women from Different Continents Dance in a Circle Chapter 4: Poems My Mother, a Return Peace Corps Volunteer, Comments on the March 2020 Global Evacuation of Peace Corps Volunteers My Mother, a Sociologist with Breast Cancer, Tells a Story on May Day, 2020 My Mother Masters the Art of the French Omelette My Mother’s Breast Cancer Surgeon Asks with Interest about Her Record of TB Treatment In a Time of Distance Chapter 5: Kartik’s Last Words Home and the World Chapter 6: Plethora of Emotions Engulf the Everyday Life Chapter 7: Post-Covid-19 Urbanscape: Re-imagining Housing as Infrastructures of Care Introduction Social Distancing and Staying at Home Pandemic and the Resurfacing of Housing Crisis Interventions Required in Housing Envisaging Housing as Infrastructure of Care Conclusion Notes References Chapter 8: Quarantined for life Chapter 9: Calling on Australians of Conscience: Reflections from March to July 2020 Introduction Participant Observation: Reflections on Life in Lockdown Punishing the Poor Calling on People of Conscience to Re-imagine a Just World References Chapter 10: Femicide and Violence against Women in Mexico: May 2021 Gender-based Violence against Women in Mexico The Pandemic That Precedes the Covid-19 Pandemic What Must We Do? Notes References Governance Chapter 11: Domestic Violence during the Covid-19 Lockdown: Interventions by the Special Cell for Women Located at Police Stations Prevalence Data on Domestic Violence during Covid-19 The Role of Special Cell for Women and Children in Police Stations during the Pandemic Programmatic Strategies Adopted by Special Cells during Covid-19 Pandemic Domestic Violence Helpline Focused Advocacy Campaign on Putting an End to Domestic Violence Strengthening Systemic Responses Facilitating a Multi-agency Coordinated Response Preparedness for Such a Pandemic Integrating Response to Violence against Women within State Systems Notes References Chapter 12: Re-imagining Governance in Post-Covid-19 Bihar1: May – June 2020 Decentralisation and Covid-19 Assessment of Welfare Measures Post-Covid-19 Food Security Measures Issues in the Implementation of the Mahatma Gandhi National Rural Employment Guarantee Scheme (MGNREGS) Agriculture-related Welfare Measures National Social Assistance Programme Welfare Measures for Healthcare Towards Re-imagining Governance in Post-Covid Bihar Notes References Chapter 13: Covid-19 Stories: Imaginations of the Local Chapter 14: Surveillance to Sousveillance: Watching the Watchers Introduction: Era of Mass-Surveillance Surveillance – Technology and the Pandemic Surveillance – Politics and Policy Power and Its Asymmetrical Veillance Exploring Sousveillance Sousveillance: Transparency and Accountability of Governments Democracy-Friendly Technology Conclusion: An Interim Counteragent Note References Chapter 15: LONG WAY HOME Religion and Godlessness Chapter 16: Handling Pandemic: How Does a Neo-liberal State ‘Manage’ the Deeper Malaise? Reverse Migration and Necropolitical Management Islamophobia, Violent Vilification, and State of Exception A Clarion Call for Appreciation or Normalising the Distress? Notes References Chapter 17: No Idea of God: June 2021 Epiphanies and Exaltations amidst a Pandemic The Early Days Chewing on a Book So, Is the Wait Over? References Creative Communications Chapter 18: Thoughts from the North: April 2020 Notes References Chapter 19: Just Wafting by… Chapter 20: Re-imagining Indigenous Knowledge in Post-Covid-19 Social Work in Uganda: April 2020 Introduction Coronavirus Pandemic in Uganda: Through the Lens of an Artist Indigenous Practice of Ryemo Gemo and Covid-19 Response Music and Covid-19 Response in Uganda Western Enlightenment, Colonisation, and Indigenous Knowledge and Practices: Social Work Reflections Concluding Remarks Notes References Chapter 21: The Earth and Covid-19: April 2020 Questioning the ‘Normal’ and the Normative Chapter 22: To Do Is To Be?: May–June 2020 Chapter 23: The Myth of Majority: Re-imagining Minorities The Spectrum of Ability and Disability Covid-19 and the Invisibility of People with Disabilities Conclusion Notes References Chapter 24: Covid-19 and the Intersectional Consequences for Women with Disabilities: Experiences from Sri Lanka Introduction Persons with Disabilities and the Ongoing Denial of Rights and Justice Nisha Harini Conclusion Notes References Education Chapter 25: The Private Liberal Arts University and the Pandemic: Some Reflections Understanding the University’s Texture: Choice, Merit, and the Business of Benign Protectionism And Then There Was the Pandemic… Concluding Thoughts Notes References Chapter 26: Re-imagining Education in the Post-Covid-19 World: December 2020 Methodology Why Bourdieu Matters: Reproducing Inequality Online Education: What Does the Data Say? Why Gender Matters? Quality of Education Conclusion Notes References Of Trauma and Loss Chapter 27: Ground Zero after Ground Zero: April 2020 Chapter 28: Narrating the Moment of Transmission Creative Re-imaginings Chapter 29: Shakespeare and Kafka: Telling Stories in Times of Uncertainty Shakespeare Kafka Notes Chapter 30: Socialism, Language, and Values for Post-corona World: April 2020 A Reluctance to Change Demystifying Socialism Not-Quite-Ready Attitudes Language of Musicians and Poets Chapter 31: The Covid-19 Pandemic and Its Impacts: A Dialogue on Intersectional Vulnerabilities and Resistances 1 Introduction The Intersectional Impacts of Covid-19 Responses to Covid-19: Reacting, Resisting, Transforming Re-imagining Our Present for a Political Project for the Future Notes References Chapter 32: Beyond Crisis: Building Child-Friendly Cities as Bird-Friendly Spaces Lockdown and the Environment Child-Friendly Cities Green Childhood Conclusion Notes References Index