On symbols and scripts: The politics of the American COVID-19 response
On symbols and scripts: The politics of the American COVID-19 response
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DOI：
10.1080/17441692.2021.1902549
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发表时间：
2021-03-17
影响因子：
3.3
通讯作者：
Mendenhall, Emily
中科院分区：
文献类型：
--
作者：
Kenworthy, Nora;Koon, Adam D.;Mendenhall, Emily
新冠肺炎危机是在美国政坛出现分歧的时候发生的。我们认为，要解读美国的新冠肺炎危机，并制定有效的应对措施，我们需要对公共卫生危机的政治文化有更深入的了解。我们使用采访和在线媒体的数据来检验美国疫情最初几个月内公共卫生现象(口罩和公共卫生机构)的象征性代表。我们展示了关于大流行应对的政治剧本是如何由根深蒂固的社会价值观和政治文化塑造并与之保持一致的。创造意义的社会过程有助于解释关于掩饰和机构信任等话题的越来越多的党派公共卫生话语的演变。我们强调指出，美国缺乏对逝者的纪念--它没有像其他问题那样获得两极分化的政治意义--来思考某些问题如何以及为什么获得政治价值，以及某些政治化行为在改变公共话语方面提供了哪些机会。冠状病毒大流行挑战了公共卫生战略的科学性及其机构的合法性，造成了毁灭性的后果。预测和理解政治文化、文化剧本和意义在定位公共卫生措施方面的核心作用，对于更有效地应对新冠肺炎和未来的流行病至关重要。
The COVID-19 crisis emerged during a divisive time in American politics. We argue that to unravel the American COVID-19 crisis-and to craft effective responses-we need a more sophisticated understanding of the political culture of public health crises. We use data from interviews and online media to examine symbolic representation of public health phenomena (masks; public health institutions) within the first months of the US epidemic. We show how political scripts about pandemic responses are shaped by, and align with, deeply-rooted social values and political cultures. Social processes of meaning-making help explain the evolution of increasingly partisan public health discourse regarding topics like masking and institutional trust. We highlight the lack of memorialization of deaths in America-that has not acquired the same polarized political meaning as other issues-to consider how and why certain issues gain political valence, and what opportunities certain acts of politicization provide in shifting public discourse. The coronavirus pandemic challenged the science of public health strategy, and the legitimacy of its institutions, with devastating consequences. Anticipating and understanding the central role of political cultures, cultural scripts, and meanings in positioning public health measures is essential for more effective responses to COVID-19 and future pandemics.