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A pandemic is not a war: COVID‐19 urgent anthropological reflections

Saiba Varma

Social Anthropology

Overview

In this article, Saiba Varma reflects on the metaphors that occupied the information space and the social space during the COVID-19 pandemic. The metaphors of 'war', 'curfews', 'state of emergency', impose urgency, militarize daily life, medicine and care, in a supposed unity of group against an invisible and viral 'enemy' that, however, makes invisible the social disparities and inequalities that weaken and endanger certain segments of a population.
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ILLUSTRASTION: REBECCA ZISSER/HUFFPOST