Coronavirus, capitalism and a 'thousand tiny dis/advantages': a more-than-human analysis

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8 Citations (Scopus)

Abstract

This paper establishes a relational, post-anthropocentric and materialist approach to the Covid-19 coronavirus pandemic. Analysis of the ‘pandemic assemblage’ reveals that the virus has subverted the social and economic relations of capitalism, enabling its global spread. This also establishes a materialist framework for exploring socioeconomic disparities in Covid-19 incidence and death rates, via a more-than-human and monist analysis of capitalist production and markets. Disparities derive from the ‘thousand tiny dis/advantages’ produced by people’s daily interactions with human and non-human matter, making sense of the unequal occupational patterning of coronavirus incidence. This more-than-human approach supplies a critical alternative to the mainstream public health and scientific perspectives on the pandemic, with important implications for current and future policy to counter future microbiological outbreaks.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)107-122
Number of pages16
JournalSocial Theory and Health
Volume20
Issue number2
Early online date20 Apr 2022
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 1 Jun 2022

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