Unequal societies in usual times, unjust societies in pandemic ones

Abstract

The explosion of the pandemic has been optimistically considered as the "last straw that breaks the camel's back". At the time of writing, after three months since its outburst, we can hardly find any sign of a "broken camel": indeed, it could have been the opportunity to collectively question the current regime of production and appropriation, exclusion and marketization characterizing this phase of unjust "rentified capitalism", but the route taken has largely seen a frightening combination of "business as usual" on the production side and pervasive forms of social control, limitations of individual and collective rights and the perpetuation of a false dichotomy between economic and health security. This pandemic, which under decent public health provisions might have been a controlled disease, is producing the most severe crisis after the Great Depression and has been used to implement forms of massive social control hardly conceivable in "advanced democracies". Butterfly effects are well-known in complexity sciences. However, social scientists have still difficulties in understanding how a grain can make the sandcastle fall down. On the contrary, we are now under the actual risk of starting a "new normal" without dealing with the deep routes and origins of this crisis, with the dominant intellectual discourse pushing for maintaining and indeed reinforcing the status quo, established power and social blocks. This myopic strategy might end up in collectively disruptive socio-political transformations.

The rise in inequality after pandemics: can fiscal support play a mitigating role?

“…The narrative that inequality might decline was shaped by evidence that it had done so in the aftermath of historical pandemics such as the Black Death ( Milanovic, 2016 ; Scheidel, 2017 ). Dosi et al (2020) , however, challenged this narrative, pointing out that COVID-19 is not expected to have mortality rates of “the magnitude recalling the Black Death or even the Spanish Flu” and thus the adverse impact on labor supply would be lower. They conjectured that the COVID-19 “unlike other historical episodes such as the Plague of the 14th century, will not serve to alleviate income and wealth inequalities.…”

“…Despite this fiscal support, the pandemic has upended the lives of millions around the globe, with evidence suggesting that those in low-income deciles and minority groups—which, sadly, often overlap—are disproportionately hurt. Dosi et al (2020) enumerate the many channels through which the pandemic can end up amplifying existing inequalities, ranging from inequities in risk of contagion, access to hospitalization, possibility to work remotely, and risk of longer-term job loss. Evidence suggests that each of these channels has been operative during the COVID-19 pandemic, suggesting that it is likely to lead to an increase in inequality ( Furceri et al , 2020 ).…”

Fighting the scarring effects of COVID-19

“…Additionally, vulnerable groups are more likely to lose jobs, be forced into extreme poverty, and lack resources to support themselves during the crisis and recover, especially in the absence of a social protection system. This is likely to exacerbate old inequalities and vulnerabilities ( Dosi et al , 2020 ).…”

Psychosocial Issues Related to Corona Virus Disease

“…Pre-existing socioeconomic and geographical differences accentuate the digital divide, i.e., educational facilities depend upon Internet connection, speed, and devices. Moreover, less educated and poor parents may be unable to assist their children during online education [17].…”