Pandemics, prejudice, and perceptions of blame: Securitising the Covid-19 response in South Africa

流行病、偏见和指责观念：南非 Covid-19 应对措施的安全化

• 批准号: 2711880
• 金额: --
• 依托单位: University of Bristol
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Studentship
• 财政年份: 2022
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2022 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 未结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=studentship-2711880
• 关键词: Pandemics; prejudice; perceptions; blame; Securitising

The Covid-19 pandemic was experienced by all; regardless of class, borders, gender, or race. What has come to light, however, is the fact that certain demographics have been disproportionately affected, either due to historical social inequalities actively shaping the virus' epidemiological profile (Bowman, 2020; Gibb et al., 2020), or the socio-political consequences associated with large-scale health behaviour change. This research seeks to explore the latter. The South African (SA) pandemic response has been heavily securitised. Speech acts by Cyril Ramaphosa (News24, 2020; AFP, 2020) rationalised its elevation beyond the scope of 'normal politics', justifying the loss of some liberties as necessary for the protection of life. However, the national lockdown imposed was also accompanied by stark militarisation (Malik et al., 2021: 4), with armed police and army units deployed to ensure compliance. Given SA's history of strained relationships between citizens and security forces, the militarisation of the pandemic was widely criticised (de Waal, 2021; Kalla and Laher, 2020; Green, 2021). Media outlets highlighted cases of police harassment, assault, murder, and arbitrary detention (Noko, 2020; Seleka, 2020). Policing was more pronounced in poorer, overcrowded townships than wealthier, gated communities fortified by private security measures (Bank, 2020), while women and migrants were also disproportionately affected due to their greater role within the informal economy (Casale and Posel, 2021; Dlamini, 2021). Scholarship has shown how the social construction of disease is often linked to foreigners, out-groups, and alien practices (Ngubane, 1977; Goldin, 1994; Joffé.1999; Rödlach, 2006). Positioning itself within the debate regarding the scope and subject of security, and whether the securitisation of disease does more harm than good, this research seeks to explore how the securitisation of health issues influences perceptions of blame and responsibility for disease outbreaks and how the perceived sense of heightened risk associated with securitisation reinforces the Self/Other dichotomy within societies.

2019冠状病毒病大流行是所有人都经历过的;不分阶级、边界、性别或种族。然而，人们发现，某些人口统计数据受到了不成比例的影响，这要么是由于历史上的社会不平等积极塑造了病毒的流行病学特征（Bowman，2020; Gibb等人，2020年），或与大规模健康行为改变相关的社会政治后果。本研究旨在探讨后者。南非（SA）的大流行应对措施已被大量证券化。西里尔·拉马福萨（Cyril Ramaphosa）的言论行为（新闻24，2020;法新社，2020）合理化了它超出“正常政治”范围的提升，证明失去一些自由是保护生命所必需的。然而，实施的全国封锁也伴随着明显的军事化（Malik等人，2021年：4），部署了武装警察和军队以确保遵守。鉴于南澳公民和安全部队之间关系紧张的历史，疫情的军事化受到了广泛批评（德瓦尔，2021年;卡拉和拉赫，2020年;绿色，2021年）。媒体报道了警察骚扰、袭击、谋杀和任意拘留的案件（Noko，2020年; Seleka，2020年）。治安在较贫穷、过度拥挤的城镇比在较富裕、有私人安保措施的封闭社区更为明显（银行，2020年），而妇女和移民由于在非正规经济中发挥更大作用，也受到不成比例的影响（Casale和Posel，2021年; Dlamini，2021年）。学术研究表明，疾病的社会结构往往与外国人、外群体和外来做法有关（Ngubane，1977; Goldin，1994; Joffé，1999; Rödlach，2006）。这项研究将自己定位在有关安全范围和主题以及疾病证券化是否弊大于利的争论中，旨在探索健康问题的证券化如何影响人们对疾病爆发的指责和责任的看法，以及人们对风险增加的感知如何与证券化相关的风险强化了社会中自我/他人的二分法。