1st Edition
Inequalities, Youth, Democracy and the Pandemic
This book brings together studies from various locations to examine the growing social problems that have been brought to the fore by the COVID-19 outbreak. Employing both qualitative, theoretical and quantitative methods, it presents the impact of the pandemic in different settings, shedding light on political and cultural realities around the world. With attention to inequalities rooted in race and ethnicity, economic conditions, gender, disability, and age, it considers different forms of marginalization and examines the ongoing disjunctions that increasingly characterize contemporary democracies from a multilevel perspective.
The book addresses original analyses and approaches from a global perspective on the COVID-19 pandemic, its governance, and its effects in different geographies. These analyses are organized around three main axes: 1) how COVID-19 pandemic worsened social, racial/ethnic, and economic inequalities, including variables such as migration status, gender, and disability; 2) how the pandemic impacted youth and how younger generations cope with public health alarms, and containment measures; 3) how the pandemic posed a challenge to democracy, reshaped the political agenda, and the debate in the public sphere. Contributions from around the world show how local and national issues may overlap on a global scale, laying the foundation for connected sociologies. Based on qualitative as well as quantitative empirical analysis on various categories of individuals and groups, this edited volume reflects on the sociological aspects of current planetary crises which will continue to be at the core of our societies.
A wide-ranging, international volume that focuses on both unexpected social changes and new forms of agency in response to a period of crisis, Inequalities, Youth, Democracy and the Pandemic will appeal to scholars with interests in the sociology of health, social problems and inequalities.
1 Sociology of the Pandemic
Simone Maddanu and Emanuele Toscano
PART I: Pandemic and Inequalities, Gender, Migrants and Disabilities
2 The exacerbation of inequalities in the aftermath of the COVID-19 crisis and its effects within and across households
Raquel Rojas, Laura Flamand, Juan Ignacio Piovani and Rosario Aparicio
3 Malaysian Indian Women Living in Poverty and the Challenges of the Pandemic in Malaysia
Premalatha Karupiah
4 “Rebuscarse la Vida”: The Resourcefulness of Latinas Navigating COVID-19 in Philadelphia
Veronica Montes, Beatriz Padilla and Erika Busse
5 The Sociology of Migration in the COVID-19 Pandemic: Racial and Ethnic Discrimination and Barriers to Integration in Greece
Theodoros Fouskas
6 The Impact of the COVID-19 Pandemic on Disability Services in Japan: Analysis of Administrative Panel Data
Kenjiro Sakakibara
7 Images of Pandemic Inequality in Brazil
Marianna Knothe Sanfelicio
PART II: Pandemic and Youth
8 COVID-19-Related Life Events and Life Satisfaction Among Young People in Finland
Konsta Happonen, Alix Helfer, Lotta Haikkola and Jenni Lahtinen
9 Generational Inequalities in Multiple Crises: Pandemic and Italian Youth on the Edge
Enzo Colombo and Paola Rebughini
10 The COVID-19 Emergency and University Students: An Analysis of Effects from Inequalities in Cultural and Socioeconomic Capital
Gabriella D’Ambrosio and Barbara Sonzogni
11 The Digital (In)Equity Crisis During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Narratives from the Field
Yaprak Dalat Ward and Anil Yasin Ar
12 Generation Z and Civic Engagement in a Pre- and Post-Vaccine World
Stephanie Garrone-Shufran, Kirstie Lynn Dobbs and Laura M. Hsu
PART III: Pandemic, Social Movements, and Democracy
13 How Did the Pandemic Shape the Dynamics of Two Civic Communities?: Unraveling Complementarities and Divergences Within Spain’s Civic Culture
Rubén Diez Garcia and Ariel Sribman Mittelman
14 Moral Panic, Spanish Rroma, and Political Contestation during the COVID-19 Health Crisis
Antonio Montañés Jiménez and Demetrio Gómez Ávila
15 The Anti-vaxxer Attitude as a Socially Rooted Thought-Style
Fiorenzo Parziale and Maria Carmela Catone
16 “Feminism is the Real Plague”: The Spanish Radical Right Antifeminism during the COVID-19 Pandemic Antonio Álvarez-Benavides and Francisco Jiménez Aguilar
Biography
Simone Maddanu is Assistant Professor of Instruction at the University of South Florida, USA. His research explores social movements, immigration, Islam in Europe, common goods and modernity. He is co-author of Restless Cities on the Edge: Collective Actions, Immigration and Populism (2021) and co-editor of Global Modernity from Coloniality to Pandemic: A Cross-Disciplinary Perspective (2022).
Emanuele Toscano is Associate Professor of Sociology at Marconi University of Rome, Italy. His research focuses on inequalities, subjectivation processes, and social movements. He is editor of Researching Far-Right Movements: Ethics, Methodologies, and Qualitative Inquiries (Routledge, 2019) and author of numerous journal articles and book chapters.
“Maddanu and Toscano’s book daringly broaches multiple facets of the COVID-19 crisis. Its originality lies in its impressive international range combined with in-depth case studies. It investigates the plight induced by the pandemic but also social actors’ capacity of action, thus permitting theorical and empirical accounts. The book brings into relief three central issues which stand uppermost among current social concerns: inequalities, youth and democracy. It will undoubtedly constitute a precious resource for both social scientists and the wider public.”
Daniele Joly, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, University of Warwick, UK
“The COVID-19 pandemic has not only been a major global health emergency but also a social and political event that has exacerbated inequalities in society while shedding light on deep-seated social conflicts and triggering new ones. This edited collection brings together social scientists from different world regions to look at the evolution of grievances and conflicts during the pandemic, from the impact of the emergency on social movements to its fuelling of new forms of discrimination. Rigorously researched and rich in geographic coverage, this volume is a precious resource to navigate the global landscape of post-pandemic.”
Paolo Gerbaudo, Reader in Digital Politics, King’s College London, UK
