What Makes Life Grievable? Discursive Distribution of Vulnerability in the Pandemic
This article examines Judith Butler’s concepts of vulnerability and grievability in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and biopower practices introduced in the name of the protection of the people. An analysis of the elite political discourse in Czechia, Germany, Great Britain, and Slovakia in th...
Main Authors: | , , |
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Format: | Article |
Language: | English |
Published: |
Institute of International Relations Prague
2020-12-01
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Series: | Czech Journal of International Relations |
Subjects: | |
Online Access: | https://cjir.iir.cz/index.php/cjir/article/view/69 |
Summary: | This article examines Judith Butler’s concepts of vulnerability and
grievability in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic and biopower
practices introduced in the name of the protection of the people. An
analysis of the elite political discourse in Czechia, Germany, Great Britain,
and Slovakia in the first three months of the pandemic explores how
vulnerability was constructed and distributed among the respective
populations. We identified two prevailing discursive frames – science and
security. Within the first, vulnerability was constructed in terms of biological
characteristics, rendering elderly, disabled, and chronically ill bodies as
already lost and ungrievable. Within the security frame, Roma or migrant
populations’ vulnerability to the virus has been discursively shifted into
being seen as a threat, while vulnerability itself was recognized more as a
feature of institutions or society. Thus, despite the claims that ‘we are all in
this together’, the pandemic has exposed how our vulnerability and
interdependency are embedded within existing social structures.
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ISSN: | 0323-1844 2570-9429 |