A panel discussion on the social-capital disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic and its impact in exacerbating inequality.
The workshop/panel discussion will address the interrelationship of the COVID-19 pandemic and the inequalities within our society and throughout the world. To what extent is the pandemic an outgrowth of the inequalities endemic to a world dominated by capitalism and to this phase of advanced capitalism? To what extent is the pandemic likely to exacerbate these inequalities in terms of reinforcing negative feedback patterns? To what extent do related threats of fascism, nuclear war and the destruction of the environment contribute to this vicious cycle? What must we do now—politically, legally, and otherwise—to prevent or ameliorate these potentialities and to interrupt the pandemic’s potential to fuel a long-term circularity of negative social influence and change? Similarly, the time when mainstream systems are destabilized and forced to adapt is also the time when the opportunity for system change arises. Unexpectedly, another world appears (remotely) possible. What would this world be? How would it be (re)configured? And how could (some of) its features be designed realistically and implemented pragmatically and efficaciously?
Moderators: Athena D. Mutua & Thomas E. Kleven
Presenters: Thomas E. Kleven, Alicia Ely Yamin, Erika K. Wilson, Emeka Duruigbo, Emily A. Spieler, Andrew Hammond