Over the last few months the world has been affected by the novel corona virus (COVID-19). Evidence seems to show that this zoonotic disease originated from the Wuhan region of China. The consequential social and economic fallout of COVID-19 has been nothing short of devastating. Many countries are now under indefinite lockdown as a way of curtailing the spread of this menacing virus.
While the cost in human death and suffering has been considerable this pandemic has engendered an existential crisis with long term consequences. Arguably, not since 9/11 has an event disturbed our collective psyche as this current pandemic, unleashing a tide “coronaphobia” across the globe. The term “coronaphobia” aptly exposes our mindset which is being contoured by a daily smorgasboard of selected images, COVID-19 information and double messages. This blanket coverage has heightened indeterminacy. Jackson (1998) notes that indeterminacy often acts in eroding our sense of self-empowerment. Indeterminacy threatens our illusion of existential control, reminding us that we are inevitably exposed to chance and circumstance.
In the 90s the cultural theorist Arjun Appadurai speculated that global capitalism is predicated on five flows or ‘scapes’ as he coined them. These scapes inform the socio-politico-economic modus operandi of modernity. Appadurai’s concept has much merit since it discusses both the complexity and fluidity of globalisation. The turbulent nature of the 21st century warrants for the inclusion of ‘fearscapes’ in Appadurai’s schema. Extant homo is being subjected to a cavalcade of crises such as global terrorism, economic insecurity, climate change, ecological collapse and the current COVID-19 pandemic.
In this special issue we are interested in reviewing papers which blend the theme of coronaphobia and fearscapes. We believe that the dynamics of extreme fear compounds and hinders our collective ability to respond in a way that will lead to better outcomes. Fear can paralyze, turn one person against the next, one country against the next, in a vicious cycle of projection, blame, attack, response. We ask: what is beyond the fearscape? Is there a better “place” to respond from? We therefore seek to explore alternative emotional futures as a response to this crisis, that draw on diverse epistemologies: spiritual, social-psychological, cultural, integral, empirical and other. We ask that papers also address the question of the future and how the current COVID-19 crisis can provide a catalyst for transformation and fostering foresight and futures thinking.
Submission deadline: May 15, 2020
Publication date: June 25, 2020
Special Editor: Dr. Arthur Saniotis
Arthur Saniotis is a Visiting Research Fellow in the School of Medical Sciences at The University of Adelaide, and Research Affiliate at the Centre for Evolutionary Medicine, The University of Zurich. His research interests include evolutionary medicine, neuroscience, paleoanthropology, bioethics and medical anthropology. He teaches and practices anatomy in Kurdistan, Iraq.
Please send your EOI with a 100 word overview and affiliation to:
arthur.saniotis@adelaide.edu.au
and cc
jose@actionforesight.net
