The Frontline as Performative Frame: An Analysis of the UK COVID Crisis
In this paper, we examine the multiple significations of the “frontline” metaphor in the UK during the first ten months of COVID-19. We argue that the term “frontline” has operated as a performative frame, which has helped to produce the very notion and the materialization of the “COVID-19 frontline...
| Main Authors: | , , |
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
| Published: |
Pluto Journals
2021-01-01
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| Series: | State Crime |
| Online Access: | https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.13169/statecrime.10.2.0284 |
| _version_ | 1797833827069984768 |
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| author | Sara Farris Nira Yuval-Davis Catherine Rottenberg |
| author_facet | Sara Farris Nira Yuval-Davis Catherine Rottenberg |
| author_sort | Sara Farris |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | In this paper, we examine the multiple significations of the “frontline” metaphor in the UK during the first ten months of COVID-19. We argue that the term “frontline” has operated as a performative frame, which has helped to produce the very notion and the materialization of the “COVID-19 frontline” and keyworkers. Showing how the UK government has repeatedly cited this metaphor, we outline the contradictory effects it has generated through an interplay of hyper-visibility and opaqueness. The frontline metaphor has been used to justify the government's injection of massive amounts of public money into the economy, render hyper-visible workers who had previously been invisible, whilst generating a sense of civic responsibility. Simultaneously, however, the metaphor has created a smokescreen for corrupt practices, deflecting attention away from resource-starved health and social care infrastructures and intensifying forms of “everyday bordering” and “everyday racism” that deepen structural injustices in the UK. |
| first_indexed | 2024-04-09T14:29:15Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-53489862cce24a45a5c09c3af8e9cf3f |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2046-6056 2046-6064 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-04-09T14:29:15Z |
| publishDate | 2021-01-01 |
| publisher | Pluto Journals |
| record_format | Article |
| series | State Crime |
| spelling | doaj.art-53489862cce24a45a5c09c3af8e9cf3f2023-05-03T16:20:40ZengPluto JournalsState Crime2046-60562046-60642021-01-0110228430310.13169/statecrime.10.2.0284The Frontline as Performative Frame: An Analysis of the UK COVID CrisisSara Farris0Nira Yuval-Davis1Catherine Rottenberg2Goldsmiths University of LondonUniversity of East LondonUniversity of NottinghamIn this paper, we examine the multiple significations of the “frontline” metaphor in the UK during the first ten months of COVID-19. We argue that the term “frontline” has operated as a performative frame, which has helped to produce the very notion and the materialization of the “COVID-19 frontline” and keyworkers. Showing how the UK government has repeatedly cited this metaphor, we outline the contradictory effects it has generated through an interplay of hyper-visibility and opaqueness. The frontline metaphor has been used to justify the government's injection of massive amounts of public money into the economy, render hyper-visible workers who had previously been invisible, whilst generating a sense of civic responsibility. Simultaneously, however, the metaphor has created a smokescreen for corrupt practices, deflecting attention away from resource-starved health and social care infrastructures and intensifying forms of “everyday bordering” and “everyday racism” that deepen structural injustices in the UK.https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.13169/statecrime.10.2.0284 |
| spellingShingle | Sara Farris Nira Yuval-Davis Catherine Rottenberg The Frontline as Performative Frame: An Analysis of the UK COVID Crisis State Crime |
| title | The Frontline as Performative Frame: An Analysis of the UK COVID Crisis |
| title_full | The Frontline as Performative Frame: An Analysis of the UK COVID Crisis |
| title_fullStr | The Frontline as Performative Frame: An Analysis of the UK COVID Crisis |
| title_full_unstemmed | The Frontline as Performative Frame: An Analysis of the UK COVID Crisis |
| title_short | The Frontline as Performative Frame: An Analysis of the UK COVID Crisis |
| title_sort | frontline as performative frame an analysis of the uk covid crisis |
| url | https://www.scienceopen.com/hosted-document?doi=10.13169/statecrime.10.2.0284 |
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