Interdisciplinary Perspectives SIG Plenary 2022
The Interdisciplinary Perspectives Special Interest Group (IPSIG) will be holding a free virtual Plenary Session on "the superficialization of policy-making in the aftermath of Covid-19" on 15 September 2022 on 13:00-14:30 (BST).
The session examines how media discourse during the Covid-19 pandemic both reflected and helped to diffuse conduits of superficialization in society. I define superficialization as the process through which people’s reflexivity is gradually constrained, reduced, and numbed. Specifically, I aim to see how thoughts expressed in the media on the pandemic were often incapable of questioning the ascendancy of neoliberalism on public health policies – even though the crisis could have provided a genuine opportunity for citizens to reflect on the role of neoliberalism in constraining public resources devoted to public health agencies, in privatising the development of vaccines, and in offshoring the production of medical protective equipment. The presentation will be followed by an interactive discussion and Q&A.