COVID Studies

COVID Studies: A "State of the Field" Collection of Essays

This collection presents the latest research on the pandemic from a range of disciplines, including sociology, anthropology, public policy, political science, history, and science and technology studies. Though varied in their methodologies, whether ethnography, data analysis, or archival research, the contributors view COVID not as an isolated event with a discrete beginning and end, but as an ongoing crisis that has shaped and been shaped by underlying social and political conditions.

The Nature of COVID

As demonstrated by the essays, COVID is a nested disaster: a deadly and debilitating virus woven through traumatically inadequate health systems in the United States and around the world. It is also a compound disaster, entangled with climatic disasters of land, air, and sea, and intersecting with the tragedies of migration, war, and political dysfunction. This volume aims to bring COVID out of the museum of past disasters, where powerful institutions wish it to remain, and place it at the center of our lives, where it belongs now and for the foreseeable future.

Continuing Impact

Although no longer officially acknowledged as a pandemic by global health officials, COVID remains a continuing disaster due to its toll on life, health, economy, safety, and justice. The pandemic is shaped by longer histories and continues to influence new realities, with contributors emphasizing that research and writing are still ongoing from within the disaster.

Contributors

Joie Acosta, George Aumoithe, Anirban Kapil Baishya, Tanya Buhler Corbin, Jih-Fei Cheng, Moon Choi, Vivian Choi, Nishaant Choksi, Aaron Clark-Ginsberg, Sukanya Deogam, Alexa S. Dietrich, Kim Fortun, Alice Fothergill, Danya Glabau, Monica H. Green, Dolly Jorgensen, Dani Joslyn, Christine Keeves, Hyunah Keum, Scott Gabriel Knowles, Christos Lynteris, Tyesha Maddox, Rachel Margolis, Katherine A. Mason, Luke J. Matthews, Darshana Sreedhar Mini, Samantha Montano, Courtney Page-Tan, Hyeonbin Park, Lori Peek, Elisa Perego, Kalpesh Rathwa, Rashawn Ray, Monica Sanders, Amanda Savitt, Sarah Senk, Robert Soden, Jacob Steere-Williams, Cecile Stephanie Stehrenberger, Kathleen Tierney, Rodrigo Ugarte, Kristin Urquiza, Ashton M. Verdery, Carlos Villegas, Haowei Wang, Jacqueline Wernimont, Sarah S. Willen, Heather M. Wurtz, Myungji Yang, Carl A. Zimring.