Book Launch: Pandemic response and the cost of lockdowns: Global debates from humanities and social sciences

Edited by Peter Sutoris (University of York), Sinead Murphy (Newcastle University), Aleida Mendes Borges (King’s College London), and Yossi Nehushtan (Keele University)

This is a book launch of Pandemic Response and the Cost of Lockdowns (Routledge 2022). The edited collection brings the vast analytical apparatus of the humanities and social sciences to the task of critically analysing the political decisions taken in 2020–21.

The global response to the Covid-19 pandemic left little time for critical debate about the impact of lockdowns. Across the world, governments claimed to ‘follow the science’, but they rarely paid attention to the humanities and social sciences. Indeed, the absence of these perspectives is symptomatic of a longer-term trend in the marginalisation of the humanities and social sciences in policy-making and public debate. This book exposes the tragic consequences of this omission in 2020–21 and demonstrates the potential for a different path in the future – a path in which we pay attention to power, complexity, and our biases. The authors establish what these disciplines have to offer in a global emergency and how we can ensure they help us avoid the mistakes of 2020–21 in the future.

Themes from the book:

Dr Peter Sutoris, ‘The Role of Social Sciences and Humanities At the Time of Crisis’.

Prof Sinead Murphy, ‘Philosophy and the Pandemic: Fundamental Questions’.

Prof Yossi Nehushtan, ‘Lockdowns, Proportionality, and the Unjust Discrimination Against Younger Generations’.

Dr Aleida Mendes Borges ‘Lockdowns and the Global South’.

Discussants:

Prof Peter Ramsay, LSE Law School.

Prof Toby Green, Departments of History and Languages, Literatures and Cultures, King’s College London.

Dr Reva Yunus, Department of Education, University of York.

Chair:

Prof Kai Möller, LSE Law School.