1st Edition
Public Behavioural Responses to Policy Making during the Pandemic Comparative Perspectives on Mask-Wearing Policies
This book provides a comparative study of people's mask-wearing behaviour in response to government policies between European-Northern America and Asian countries.
Examining citizens' attitudes towards their state during the COVID-19 pandemic from the perspectives of history, linguistics, politics, economics and sociology, the contributors in this volume explore to what extent people accept the wearing of masks in countries where governments have made it mandatory as compared to countries where people wear masks voluntarily. The book thus looks at mask-wearing from a political dichotomy between authoritarianism and liberalism and posits the extent to which political divisions could have existed in public opinion over the measures taken against COVID-19.
Filled with invaluable insights through research in 13 countries, this book will appeal to readers in policy making and influencing public opinion via the Europe-Asia comparative study.
1. Introduction: Controversy in mask wearing
Noriko Suzuki
2. Public Awareness of Mask Usage in 29 Countries in 2020
Susumu Annaka
Part 1: Europe
3. Historical analysis of public health policies for preventing epidemics in Hungary
Osamu Ieda
4. The mask as a new political and symbolic issue in France in 2020: A qualitative analysis of news media controversies
Xavier Mellet
5. Between ‘Mouth-Nose-Protection’ and ‘Muzzle’: Mask Wearing in German Public Debate
Joachim Scharloth
6. The Welfare State and COVID-19 Countermeasures: The Relationship of Trust and Cooperation between Citizens and Their Governments in Sweden and Finland
Chino Yabunaga and Madoka Watanabe
7. The Unlawful and Unequal Wearing of Masks: The Case of Poland during COVID-19
Łukasz Czarnecki and Monika Skowrońska
8. Attitudes Towards Mask Wearing in Greece
Athanasia Chalari
9. COVID-19 in British Columbia, Canada: health policy responses and social adaptation
Tatsiana Shaban and Emmanuel Brunet-Jailly
Part 2: Asia
10. Preventing the Pandemic: Face Masks and Infectious Diseases in Taiwan’s Modern History
Chen Lihang
11. Social values and mask-wearing behavior during the COVID-19 pandemic in Japan
Masahisa Endo and Gento Kato
12. COVID-19 Infection Control in China: The Chinese Crisis Management System and Mask Mandates
Hongyi Liu
13. Public mask-wearing behaviour and perception towards COVID-19 intervention policies in Thailand: a mixed-methods study
Upalat Korwatanasakul and Sivarin Lertpusit
14. The Consciousness of the Official Actions Concerning the COVID-19 in Cambodia
Yuko Shimazaki
15. Conclusion: Comparative perspectives on mask-wearing policies and public behaviours
Xavier Mellet, Noriko Suzuki and Susumu Annaka
Biography
Noriko Suzuki is a professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Waseda University in Japan.
Xavier Mellet is an associate professor at the School of International Liberal Studies at Waseda University in Japan.
Susumu Annaka is an assistant professor at the Waseda Institute for Advanced Study in Japan.
Masahisa Endo is an associate professor at the Faculty of Social Sciences at Waseda University in Japan.
