The annihilation of time by space in the COVID-19 pandemic downturn

Abstract

<jats:p> A defining feature of capitalism has been its ‘annihilation of space by time’ in the constant reduction of geographical barriers to rapid exchange. Overviewing how the COVID-19 pandemic lockdown has triggered a financial crisis staunched only by massive government bailouts, this commentary points to a need to orient analysis to the annihilation of time by space. </jats:p>

Reimagining geographies of public finance

“…A reimagined public finance that recognized the state's vital role in such public provisioning would entail models of infrastructure investment that, in contrast to current funding arrangements, distribute benefits more equitably. Similar imaginaries underpin a growing body of writing that highlights the unprecedented actions taken by public financial institutions in the wake of the 2008 GFC and the COVID-19 pandemic (Langley and Morris, 2020;Ward, 2020). By revealing the extremely market-oriented character of public finance today-the sense in which we are truly in uncharted terrain-this literature helps to denaturalize the present state of affairs, to remind us that things could be otherwise.…”

Home and nearby nature: Uncovering relational flows between domestic and natural spaces in three countries during COVID-19

“…In discussing flows between assemblages of home/inside and nature/outside, COVID-19 identified an elasticity in relations that was social, ecological, and temporal ( Ward, 2020 ). The different benefits identified for nature, usually related back to home, identify elasticity as a topological idea, with every connection - spatial and social – stretched in both positive and negative ways during the pandemic.…”

A spatial interpretation of Australia's COVID-vulnerability

“…Along with the spatial variation of mitigation policy measures during the COVID-19 pandemic, geography has exerted a significant impact on societies through a ‘territorial trap’ [ 94 ] (p. 154) in the form of border closures, travel bans and zoning of regions and hot spot areas [ 106 ] where “time has been annihilated by space” [ 95 ] (p. 191). This is challenging the pre-pandemic view of an increasingly hyper connected global society [ 96 , 97 ].…”