Imperial Pandemicide
What does it mean that the nations hit hardest by COVID-19 are also countries that once boasted colonial empires?
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Description
While it is always a challenge and intellectual risk to analyse political and social events as they unfold, there is one curious pattern in the first wave of the COVID-19 pandemic that is so pronounced it’s hard to dismiss it as a flaw in the data: that is, that the countries that once boasted colonial empires have been the hardest hit states. Further, this pattern is also found in qualitative examinations of national responses to the pandemic, which grossly over-represent states with poor or controversial responses. Based on research conducted with Thomas Jamieson (University of Nebraska, Omaha), this talk will explore the relationship between the history of imperial colonialism and pandemic impact, which will focus on a socio-psychological perspective. The talk concludes with a discussion about how an “in the moment” analytical view offers valuable insights to researchers conducting post-hoc analyses, including those working in crisis management and disaster risk reduction.
Speaker Bios
Dr Doug van Belle is a Senior Lecturer in Media Studies at Victoria University of Wellington and a science fiction novelist. His research and teaching interests centre on media freedom, disaster communications and risk reduction, and science fiction and society. He is currently examining the role of press freedom in democratic politics and studying how variations in news media coverage of disasters might be used to address questions of race, image, and governmental practices. He has authored several science fiction novels, and an introduction to politics textbook, A Novel Approach to Politics (6th edition).