Right to health during COVID-19 pandemic: A sociological reading on global risk society and colonial sociability
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.35295/osls.iisl.1775Keywords:
colonial sociability, territorial stigmatization, COVID-19 pandemic, right to health, emancipatory social science, global risk society, Sociabilidad colonial, estigmatización territorial, pandemia de COVID-19, derecho a la salud, ciencia social emancipatoria, sociedad del riesgo globalAbstract
The paper deepens the right to health in COVID-19 pandemic, analyzing itsimpact in terms of social inequalities. The first section introduces concepts drawn fromthe global risk society approach, pointing out some of its limitations for an effectiveanalysis of the forms of social exclusion during the pandemic. The main statement is thatthe logic of inequalities emerged in COVID-19 pandemic can be interpreted moreeffectively in the light of postcolonial and decolonial sociology, with reference to theconcepts of coloniality of power (Quijano) and – specifically – colonial sociability(Santos). The way proposed is bringing into dialogue these concepts along with those ofadvanced marginality and territorial stigmatization (Wacquant). These approaches areuseful in understanding some data on the spread of contagion and deaths due toCOVID-19 in the contexts of Brazil and the United States of America, contagion and deaths that have particularly critically affected specific territories of advancedmarginality and exposed to stigmatization processes. Analyzing specific pathways forterritorial de-stigmatization – the paper also discusses the emancipatory task of asociological analysis of inequalities in COVID-19 pandemic era.
Este artículo profundiza en el derecho a la salud durante la pandemia de COVID-19, analizando su impacto en términos de desigualdades sociales. La primera sección introduce conceptos extraídos del enfoque de la sociedad de riesgo global, señalando algunas de sus limitaciones para un análisis efectivo de las formas de exclusión social durante la pandemia. La principal afirmación es que la lógica de las desigualdades surgidas en la pandemia de COVID-19 puede ser interpretada más eficazmente a la luz de la sociología poscolonial y decolonial, con referencia a los conceptos de colonialidad del poder (Quijano) y, concretamente, de sociabilidad colonial (Santos). El camino propuesto es poner en diálogo dichos conceptos junto con los de marginalidad avanzada y estigmatización territorial (Wacquant). Dichos enfoques son útiles para comprender algunos datos sobre la propagación de contagios y muertes por COVID-19 en los contextos de Brasil y Estados Unidos de América, contagios y muertes que han afectado de manera especialmente crítica a territorios concretos de marginalidad avanzada y expuestos a procesos de estigmatización. Analizando caminos concretos para la desestigmatización territorial, el artículo también reflexiona sobre la tarea emancipadora de un análisis sociológico de las desigualdades en la era de la pandemia de la COVID-19.
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