COVID-19 and the Politics of Crisis

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic presents an opportunity to refocus scholarly attention on the politics of crisis. Crises that abruptly upend political and economic relations are important and increasing in frequency. However, the division of international relations into international political economy (IPE) and international security has contributed to the relative neglect of non-militarized crises like pandemics. Crises are defined by threat, uncertainty, and time pressure: understanding them requires a careful examination of how these variables affect political and economic outcomes. Drawing on often disparate literatures on finance, energy and climate change, natural disasters, pandemics, and violent conflict, I propose a broad research program around the politics of crisis, focusing on puzzles related to causes, responses, and transformations.

Reacting, fast and slow: how world leaders shaped government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic

“…The relevance of expertise decreases once a shared problem perception and coherent playbook for responses emerges of other countries' actions (Glenn et al, 2021;Lipscy, 2020). In turn, uncertainty regarding sense-making eventually decreases.…”

The Institutional Sources of Economic Transformation: Energy Policy from the Oil Crises to Climate Change

“…Disruptive, transformational economic change has been an important feature of modern society going back to at least the industrial revolution, encompassing major shifts such as the shift from sailing to steam ships starting in the 1780s and quine transport to automobiles in the early 19 th century (Geels and Schot 2007) as well as industrial mobilization during World War II (Kennedy 1999). More recent examples include active state intervention to facilitate rapid economic growth in late-industrializing countries (Johnson 1982, Amsden 1989, shock therapy in post-communist transition countries (Frye 2002, Saich 2010, and the global response to major challenges like climate change and COVID-19 (Lipscy 2020, Rodrik 2014.…”

“…This question has long engaged scholars across political science, sociology, and economic history. It has gained renewed urgency for advanced industrialized economies as their governments have taken on a more active role during the 2008/09 financial crisis and COVID-19 pandemic (Lipscy 2020, Hochstetler 2020). In addition, intensifying concerns over climate change have refocused attention on the role of the state in facilitating transformational change in the energy sector (Aklin and Urpelainen 2018, Stokes 2020, Ross, Hazlett, and Mahdavi 2017, Colgan, Green, and Hale 2020, Hochstetler 2020.…”

Politics of Expertise and Blame during COVID-19 Quarantine in Chile

“…The COVID-19 pandemic quickly revealed how governments understood and reacted to the interaction of medical and political authority. The public health crisis forced "high-stakes decisions under conditions of threat, uncertainty, and time pressure" (Lipscy 2020) and demanded the rapid integration and cooperation of medical and political expertise and authority. This convergence of pressures can "bring to light so much of what we might care to ignore" (Poe 2020), revealing variation in political leadership styles and effectiveness (Funk 2020;Glenn, Chaumont, and Villalobos Dintrans MARLAS 4(3), 2021, DOI: 10.23870/marlas.329 2020; Piscopo 2020), governmental extension of control over citizens (Kishi 2020; Lemus-Delgado 2020; Poe 2020), exacerbation of societal tensions and inequities between groups of different identities (Dionne and Turkmen 2020;Woods et al 2020), and the potential for citizens to develop and assert popular sovereignty (Honig 2014; Poe 2020).…”