Treść książki
Przejdź do opcji czytnikaPrzejdź do nawigacjiPrzejdź do informacjiPrzejdź do stopki
arestructuringofthesocialorderifdecisiveandcoordinatedpoliticalactionistak-
enbythosemostalected.Sometheoristsarealreadytalkingabouttheneedfor
anewsocialcontracttotackletheimpactofthepandemic(e.g.Eliasen2020;Walsh
2021).
Whilemostsourcesdiscussatlengthhowillness-relatedstigmahasanegative
impactonthequalityoflifeandthehealthoutcomesofpatients,theypaylessat-
tentiontotheemotionsgeneratedbystigmainthestigmatisedpersons(Bereczky
2019).Temostcommonalectiveresponsestostigmaanddiscriminationinclude
guilt,anger,sadness,self-stigma,shame,confusion,anxiety,andasenseofisolation
(SchmaderandLickel2006).Noneoftheseareverypleasantorcompatiblewith
thebehaviouralpatternsdemandedofindividualslivinginmoderncapitalistsocie-
ties,wherethe“goodcitizen”isexpectedtobeobedientandproductive.
Anovelandexcitingframeforunderstandingillness-relatedstigmacanbede-
rivedfromAhmed)sworkontheanalysisofemotions(Ahmed2015).Following
hertrainofthought,theactualormetaphoricalpresenceorproximityofthe“other,”
anill,incomplete,imperfectbody,leadstoanxietyandrejectionforfearofbeing
contaminatedanddevouredbyit.Diseaseandcontagionareinseparable-one
metaphorfeedsoltheother,and,asAhmedsuggests,actualormetaphoricalprox-
imityisessentialfortheexchangeandmediationofemotions.However,proximity
isalsoassociatedwiththeriskofbeinginfectedandexposedtodeath:physicaland,
perhaps,spiritualannihilation.Tisanxietyiswellreflectedanddocumentedin
relationtotheCOVID-19pandemic:“MedicalNewsToday,”forexample(along
withtheUS-basedCentersforDiseasePreventionandControl,theEuropean
CentreforDiseasePreventionandControlandtheNationalHealthServicesinthe
UK),givesdetailedrecommendationsonhowtomanage“COVID-19anxiety.”8
Illnessequalsweakness
Incontemporarycapitalistsocieties,productivityandefciencyaretheultimateob-
jectives.More(added)valueneedstobeproducedinanever-reducingtimeframe,
andthisvalueneedstobeaccumulatedasefcientlyaspossible-acrossborders
andinlinewithaninherentlyglobalprocess(Kurz2000).However,illnessusually
makesyouweakerandlessproductive.Ifill,youarerenderedasecond-classcitizen,
andbecomepartofthatwhichissplitol(Scholz2017),inadditiontoallthenew,
perhapsdesirableandundesirableemotionsassociatedwithillness,suchasheight-
enedanxiety,compassionandfearofdeath.Teresultinghierarchicalsystemsare
8
https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/covid-19-anxiety-syndrome-a-pandemic-phenomenon
[accessedJanuary12th,2022].
38
TamásBereczky
