Discourse and social cohesion in and after the Covid‐19 pandemic

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• dc.contributor.author Bisiada, Mario
• dc.date.accessioned 2022-05-30T06:29:31Z
• dc.date.available 2022-05-30T06:29:31Z
• dc.date.issued 2022
• dc.description.abstract This conceptual article argues that class is a major factor in the social division and polarisation after the Covid‐19 pan‐ demic. Current discourse and communication analyses of phenomena such as compliance with measures and vaccine hesitancy seek explanations mainly in opposing ideological stances, ignoring existing structural inequalities and class rela‐ tions and their effects on people’s decisions. I approach social cohesion in the Covid‐19 pandemic through the theories of epidemic psychology, which sees language as fundamental in social conflicts during pandemics, and progressive neolib‐ eralism, which critiques a post‐industrial social class whose assumed moral superiority and talking down to working‐class people is argued to be an explanation of many current social conflicts. I argue that these theories construct a valuable the‐ oretical framework for explaining and analysing the social division and polarisation that has resulted from the pandemic. Reducing non‐compliance with mitigating measures and vaccine hesitancy to an ideological issue implies that it can be countered by combatting misinformation and anti‐vaccination thinking and shutting down particular discourses, which grossly simplifies the problem. The impact that class relations and inequality have on political and health issues, coupled with the characteristics of progressive neoliberalism, may partially explain the rise of populist and nativist movements. I conclude that if social cohesion is to be maintained through the ongoing climate emergency, understanding the impacts of progressive neoliberalism and the role of contempt in exclusionary discursive practices is of utmost importance.
• dc.description.sponsorship This work has benefited from funding received as part of the project Frames and Narratives of Translation and of Migration in Europe, funded by the Spanish Ministry for Science, Innovation and Universities (MCIU) and the Agencia Estatal de Investigación (AEI), with Grant No. PID2019–107971GA‐I00.
• dc.format.mimetype application/pdf
• dc.identifier.citation Bisiada M. Discourse and social cohesion in and after the Covid‐19 pandemic. Media Commun. 2022;10(2):204-13. DOI: 10.17645/mac.v10i2.5150
• dc.identifier.doi https://dx.doi.org/10.17645/mac.v10i2.5150
• dc.identifier.issn 2183-2439
• dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/10230/53291
• dc.language.iso eng
• dc.publisher Cogitatio
• dc.relation.ispartof Media and Communication. 2022;10(2):204-13
• dc.relation.projectID info:eu-repo/grantAgreement/ES/2PE/PID2019-107971GA-I00
• dc.rights © 2022 by Mario Bisiada; licensee Cogitatio (Lisbon, Portugal). This article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License (CC BY).
• dc.rights.accessRights info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess
• dc.rights.uri https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/
• dc.subject.keyword Covid‐19
• dc.subject.keyword Discourse studies
• dc.subject.keyword Foucault
• dc.subject.keyword Ideology
• dc.subject.keyword Legitimisation
• dc.subject.keyword Polarisation
• dc.subject.keyword Political communication
• dc.subject.keyword Power
• dc.subject.keyword Progressive neoliberalism
• dc.subject.keyword Social media
• dc.title Discourse and social cohesion in and after the Covid‐19 pandemic
• dc.type info:eu-repo/semantics/article
• dc.type.version info:eu-repo/semantics/publishedVersion