Racist morbidities: a conjunctural analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic

Murji, K. and Picker, G. (2021) Racist morbidities: a conjunctural analysis of the COVID-19 pandemic. European Societies, 23(sup1), S307-S320. (doi: 10.1080/14616696.2020.1825767)

Abstract

This article outlines an argument about the morbid character of racism in the time of COVID-19. Drawing on Antonio Gramsci's famous characterisation of the crisis as an ‘interregnum’ in which various ‘morbid phenomena’ appear, we suggest that one of the main underpinning logics of the current crisis could be thought of in terms of racist morbidities. Framing the article within Stuart Hall's reading of Gramsci and David Theo Goldberg's understanding of the postracial, we discuss two empirical cases: the disproportionate morbid effects of the pandemic on Black, Asian and Minority Ethnic (BAME) in the UK – that we name ‘political morbidities’, and the Moscow municipality's measures addressing migrant workers during the pandemic – that we name ‘socio-spatial morbidities’. The COVID-19 crisis, we conclude, seems to elicit racist morbidities in post-racial guises.

• Item Type: Articles
• Status: Published
• Refereed: Yes
• Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: Picker, Dr Giovanni
• Authors: Murji, K., and Picker, G.
• College/School: College of Social Sciences > School of Social and Political Sciences > Sociology Anthropology and Applied Social Sciences
• Journal Name: European Societies
• Publisher: Taylor and Francis
• ISSN: 1461-6696
• ISSN (Online): 1469-8307
• Published Online: 06 October 2020
• Copyright Holders: Copyright © 2020 European Sociological Association
• First Published: First published in European Societies 23(sup1): S307-S320
• Publisher Policy: Reproduced in accordance with the publisher copyright policy