ANSD : The social impact of coronavirus

SUN 24 - 11 - 2024

Date: Apr 23, 2020
Source: The Daily Star

The social impact of coronavirus

Rubina Abu Zeinab-Chahine

The COVID-19 epidemic is a universal catastrophe of an unseen magnitude in decades. Its effects on the lives of individuals are numerous and diverse, from rural and urban communities, slums and informal settlements, young and elderly, and from different geographical locations and economic groups. Individuals are living diverse realities of a worldwide crisis.

Today, the world is in a scientific race to create medication and vaccine. As important as it is for epidemiological knowledge to be developed in real time, it is essential to use a “social science lens” in developing the response along with understanding its impact. Trying to adjust to the new normal, social science researchers started to reflect about what this pandemic means for the world, today and in the future. Social and behavioral sciences are being used to assess and comprehend risks, improve public well-being and realize the social impact of social distancing and other control procedures in an attempt to assist governments in responding to the economic and societal consequences of the epidemic.

Social scientists, are sharing lessons learned from past epidemics, underlining the significance of a “bottom-up” responses in building a clear vision regarding the influences of the pandemic on different communities with various social and cultural structures in various local contexts.

What are the social impacts of the standard response activities to COVID-19 that have been implemented globally? What is the impact of these responses at the level of the state, city, neighborhood, household and the individual? What can we learn from previous outbreaks?

Procedures of control can have uneven impact on peoples’ living in diverse ways since people are not equally susceptible to the disease; and often, vulnerabilities are related to pre-existing conditions of economic and/or social inequalities.

Increasing the abundance of knowledge and data developed by both anthropologists and sociologists who are analyzing the epidemic responses in different contexts and incorporating a context-response relationship studies in a situation that is continuously changing is extremely important.

This “adaptive learning” can be supported by media mapping and behavioral data gathering during the response to track behavioral changes and community perceptions, reactions and inclinations that can be used in developing evidence base policies that direct actions on the ground.

Through history, epidemic responses have focused, to a great extent, on a narrative that concentrated on security, risk, primary disease drivers, impacts on poverty and incomes, and issues around access to services, community engagement and governance. In addition, it highlighted the effects of political economy, social differences and vulnerabilities, and cultural realities in managing the pandemics.

Mobilization of social science evidence will contribute to tangible ways to better address the social, political and economic dynamics of the epidemic and to promote global interventions that build on the social and cultural resources of the communities.

Elsevier, a global publishing and analytics business established in 1880 that is specialized in science and health, has issued lately a call for studies that give an insightful input on the impact of COVID-19, and the changes expected to be realized in the near future and on the long run.

Its reflection is not vaccine development or cures, but rather on the social and cultural implications of this moment in history. The initiative reveals interest in “empirical research and theoretical and critical commentaries” on the implications of the coronavirus. Multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary research interventions are highlighted addressing the complexity of the situation.

The initiative comes along other research work conducted by many think tanks and universities such as the University of Oxford, London School for Economics and Harvard University across the full range of social sciences including economics, finance, sociology, governance, health and social policy, psychology and behavioral science. All of which are encouraging researchers to address the complex societal and economic challenges of the COVID-19 pandemic.

Issues highlighted by Elsevier are tremendously important to mobilize a dialogue on the international and national level. Among the presented topics of research are: fake news, polarization, science mistrust in times of crisis, and the role of social media during the pandemic; the relationship between politicians and scientists during a public health crisis and public trust in politicians; public health alliances between states around the globe; the effect of diverse governance systems on curbing the virus; the effectiveness of rescue packages; the adoption of new phrases like social distancing and the use of hashtags to drive behaviors; the role of technology in enabling communication and disseminating information during lockdowns; the challenges of online teaching and assessments and exams cancellation; the impact of the cancellation of national cultural and public events and the closure of museums, cinemas and conferences.

In addition, the call for studies highlights the importance of addressing key questions as: Will the world stay globalized, or move on toward greater localization? How will politics adjust after the pandemic? How does the response to the coronavirus pandemic differ from responses to other previous pandemics and global challenges as climate change?

It is time to believe in the power of the social sciences to support individuals, communities and leaders making the appropriate decisions while dealing with the outbreak of the pandemic and its social consequences.

_{Rubina Abu Zeinab- Chahine is executive director at the Hariri Foundation for Sustainable Human Development.}

The views and opinions of authors expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of the Arab Network for the Study of Democracy

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