COVID-19 Pandemic and the Crisis of Care: Wellness Discourses, Neoliberal Self-Care, and (Dis)Infodemic

Abstract

The COVID-19 pandemic resulted in an influx of misinformation surrounding the virus and its origins. This paper examines the negative consequences of neoliberal self-care discourses related to COVID-19 that contributed to the disinfodemic, focusing on the wellness industry. Some health gurus and wellness instructors promoted lifestyle adjustments and self-care to prevent contracting the virus and sometimes blamed COVID-19 patients for contracting it. These claims contributed to vaccine hesitancy and pseudo-scientific beliefs. The misinformation was attractive partly because it promised individual control and independence from mainstream (scientific) advice. These discourses existed before the pandemic but were amplified within the wellness community after the COVID-19 pandemic. The paper concludes by exploring the feminist notions of care and solidarity as a counter to the neoliberal notion of self-care.