Negotiating the Pandemic: Cultural, National, and Individual Constructions of Covid-19

351 Pages·2022·11.724 MB·English

by  Inayat Ali (editor), Robbie Davis-Floyd (editor)

Negotiating the Pandemic
This book centers on negotiations around cultural, governmental, and
individual constructions of COVID-1 9. It considers how the coronavirus
pandemic has been negotiated in different cultures and countries, with the
final part of the volume focusing on South Asia and Pakistan in particular.
The chapters include autoethnographic accounts and ethnographic
explorations that reflect upon experiences of living with the pandemic and
its implications for all areas of life. The book explicates people’s dealings
with COVID- 19 at various levels, situates the spread of rumors, conspiracy
theories, and new social rituals within micro- and/ or macro- contexts, and
describes the interplay between the virus and various institutionalized forms
of inequalities and structural vulnerabilities. Bringing together a variety of
perspectives, the volume relates to the past, describes the Covidian present,
and offers futuristic implications. It enlists distinct imaginaries based on
current understandings of an extraordinary challenge that holds significant
importance for our human future.
Inayat Ali, PhD, is a Research Fellow in the Department of Social and
Cultural Anthropology at University of Vienna, Austria. He is a medical
anthropologist whose research focuses on infectious diseases, vaccination,
COVID-19, maternal health, syndemics, structured disparities, geopolitics,
and biopolitics. He is one of the founding members of the South Asia
Anthropology Forum (SAAF), and the Principal Investigator (PI) of a
project:  Exploring and Understanding the Impacts of COVID- 19:  A
Qualitative Inquiry, approved by the National Bioethics Committee of
Pakistan. Also, he has led research on COVID-19 in Sri Lanka, Bangladesh,
and Nigeria. He has authored numerous peer and non-peer-reviewed articles.
Robbie Davis- Floyd, PhD, is an Adjunct Professor in the Department
of Anthropology at Rice University, USA, and specializes in medical and
interpretive anthropology and the anthropology of reproduction. She is an
international speaker and is author of multiple articles and encyclopedia
entries and two books, and lead or co- editor of 18 volumes. Her latest book
is the co- authored Ritual: What It Is, How It Works, and Why (2022).
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Negotiating the Pandemic
Cultural, National, and Individual Constructions of COVID- 19
Edited by Inayat Ali and Robbie Davis- Floyd
Negotiating the Pandemic
Cultural, National, and Individual
Constructions of COVID- 19
Edited by Inayat Ali and
Robbie Davis- Floyd
An electronic version of this book is freely available, thanks
to the support of libraries working with Knowledge Unlatched
(KU). KU is a collaborative initiative designed to make
high quality books Open Access for the public good. The
Open Access ISBN for this book is 9781003187462. More
information about the initiative and links to the Open Access
version can be found at www.knowledgeunlatched.org.
First published 2022
by Routledge
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and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2022 selection and editorial matter, Inayat Ali and Robbie Davis- Floyd;
individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Inayat Ali and Robbie Davis- Floyd to be identified as the authors
of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual chapters,
has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the Copyright,
Designs and Patents Act 1988.
The Open Access version of this book, available at www.taylorfrancis.com, has
been made available under a Creative Commons Attribution-Non Commercial-No
Derivatives 4.0 license.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or registered trademarks,
and are used only for identification and explanation without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing- in- Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging- in- Publication Data
A catalog record has been requested for this book
ISBN: 978- 1- 032- 02840- 8 (hbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 032- 03473- 7 (pbk)
ISBN: 978- 1- 003- 18746- 2 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/ 9781003187462
Typeset in Sabon
by Newgen Publishing UK
Inayat Ali
I dedicate this book to four generations of my extended
family— my uncles, aunts, and cousins, and especially to my
heroes— my mother, Aman Rani, my grandfather, Aba Allah
Dad Khan Gopang, my father, Aba Hyder Bukhsh (famously
known as Bakhat Ali), and my uncle Baba Khuda Bukhsh—a nd
to my inspirations: Shagufta, Uzma, Saman, Shabaz, Miskeen,
Abbas, Najaf, Reema (deceased—a great soul who had wanted
to become a doctor), Mansoor, Savera, Tahira (& Co.), and
Malhar, better known as Shayaan Haider- Ali.
Robbie Davis- Floyd
I dedicate this book to the thousands of community midwives in
the United States and other countries who have so bravely risen
to the challenges of attending far more births than usual during
this pandemic as birthgiving families flee hospital contagion
and potential separation from their support people and from
their newborns in favor of birth at home or in freestanding
birth centers.
Inayat Ali and Robbie Davis- Floyd
Together we dedicate this book to the entire human family,
particularly to those who have most suffered from the effects
of the coronavirus pandemic, and to those who will act on the
lessons learned about the importance of worldwide pandemic
preparedness, and thus will help all future generations to
grow up in a world that is pandemic-f ree. More pandemics
are inevitable— it is how quickly, effectively, and culturally
appropriately we deal with them that will count.

Contents
List of Figures xi
List of Tables xii
Notes on Contributors xiii
Introduction: Constructing and Negotiating COVID- 19 1
INAYAT ALI AND ROBBIE DAVIS- FLOYD
PART I
Autoethnographic Reflections on Negotiating the Coronavirus
Pandemic 11
1 My Great- Grandmother, Malinowski, and My “Self”:
An Autoethnographic Account of Negotiating the
COVID- 19 Pandemic 13
INAYAT ALI
2 Negotiating COVID- 19 in the Media: Autoethnographic
Reflections on Sweden and International Reporting 27
RACHEL IRWIN
3 Loss and Longing for the Field During COVID- 19 in
Australia, and Finding It Again Because “Ngukurr Is
Everywhere” 42
KATE SENIOR, RICHARD CHENHALL, AND FRANCES EDMONDS
viii Contents
PART II
Conceptualizing and Negotiating the Pandemic Across
Professions, Cultures, and Countries 59
4 “As Soon as People See You Cough, They Say You Have
the Disease”: Negotiating COVID- Related Stigma and
Health- Seeking Behaviors in Kenya 61
VIOLET BARASA
5 How US Maternity Care Providers Conceptualize
COVID- 19 and Negotiate Practice Changes: The
Tensions Between Organizational Protocols and
Childbearers’ Needs 76
KIM GUTSCHOW AND ROBBIE DAVIS- FLOYD
6 Health Literacy and Information Fatigue: Understanding
People’s Beliefs and Behaviors as They Negotiate
COVID- 19 in Germany 94
MAYARÍ HENGSTERMANN
7 “Flexible Lockdown” in Switzerland: Individual
Responsibility and the Daily Navigation of Risk and
Protection 110
NOLWENN BÜHLER, MELODY PRALONG, CÉLIA BURNAND,
CLOÉ RAWLINSON, SEMIRA GONSETH NUSSLÉ, VALÉRIE D’ACREMONT,
MURIELLE BOCHUD, AND PATRICK BODENMANN
8 Practicing Resilience while Negotiating the
Pandemic: The Experiences of People with Rare Diseases
in Poland 125
KATARZYNA E. KRÓL AND MAŁGORZATA RAJTAR
9 Negotiating COVID- 19 in Russia on the Eve of the
Introduction of Social Restrictions 139
TATIANA O. NOVIKOVA, DMITRY G. PIROGOV,
TATYANA V. MALIKOVA, AND GEORGIY A. MURZA- DER
10 The Quest for a Cure for COVID- 19: Controversies
and Negotiations Around Biomedical Treatments and
Traditional Asian Medicines 155
DANUTA PENKALA- GAWĘCKA
Contents ix
11 How Do Small- to- Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
Negotiate the COVID- 19 Pandemic in Indonesia? 172
SANTIRIANINGRUM SOEBANDHI, KRISTININGSIH,
AND IRA DARMAWANTI
PART III
Culturally Constructing and Negotiating COVID- 19
in South Asia 189
12 Sri Lankans’ Negotiations Around COVID- 19: Can a
Culture Control a Viral Outbreak? 191
THARAKA ANANDA AND INAYAT ALI
13 Negotiating COVID- 19 in Bhutan: Successfully Aligning
Science, Politics, Culture, and Religion in a Unique
Public Health Strategy 205
MARY GRACE A. PELAYO, IAN CHRISTOPHER N. ROCHA, AND
JIGME YOEZER
14 Negotiating India During the COVID- 19 Crisis: Issues
and Challenges 216
SUMAN CHAKRABARTY
15 Contesting COVID- 19 in Bangladesh: Government
Responses and Local Perceptions 232
INAYAT ALI AND SUDIPTA DAS GUPTA
PART IV
Negotiating COVID- 19 in Pakistan: Cultural Conceptions
and Pandemic Responses 253
16 Social Constructions of the Concept of COVID- 19 in
Pakistan: An Anthropological Investigation 255
SARA AKRAM AND RAO NADEEM ALAM
17 Local Perceptions of COVID- 19 in Pakistan’s Sindh
Province: Political Game, Supernatural Test, or Western
Conspiracy? 270
INAYAT ALI, SALMA SADIQUE, AND SHAHBAZ ALI