Ontologies of a Pandemic: Polarisations Exposed by COVID-19 in Bangladesh

Thinking through ethnographies: Making sense of societies in transition

“…Ethnography and the search for new concepts become essential considering contemporary polarizations. For example, Bangladesh is simultaneously becoming “more modern” than it used to be, on the one hand, and “more Islamic” on the other (Hasan, 2022a; White, 2012; Tomalin 2006). Being both “more modern” and “more Islamic” at the same time indicates how a socio‐religious moral order controls daily life in Bangladesh, setting itself in opposition to the developmentalist idea of the secular, economic integration, and women empowerment and influencing things like food, marriage, social interactions, planning and attending social events, and family and community responsibilities.…”

Introduction. Syndemic South Asia: Health Politics and Inequalities

“…Considering these very few preventive measures taken, but also its fragile health care system, its lack of resources and its low literacy rate, Pakistan was predicted to be, "one of the worst-hit countries"; yet, on the contrary, the country got an "optimal hold of the coronavirus outbreak" without there being as yet any scientific explanations of this positive result (Ahmad 2021). On March 23, 2020, Bangladesh also imposed a national lockdown presented as a "general holiday" that soon turned out to be more relaxed than that of India; this was later followed by localized measures and eased to accommodate the celebration of Eid-ul-Azha and the economic activities around it (Hasan 2022). Sri Lanka, supposed to be particularly vulnerable, imposed a lockdown and was able to successfully limit cases throughout (Malji 2022).…”