[Air-L] CFM--Discordant Pandemic Narratives in the U.S.

[Sally Applin]

Oh, PS, I forgot—i also had two other articles that came out around the same time as the other one.

If anyone else is researching this area, please share any articles, I’d love to know about them. I tried to document a bit of what was happening at the time:

05-15-20
The pandemic is changing how human beings think about status
During lockdown, the rich and famous look less heroic than scientists, medical experts, front-line workers, and folks who just have a little tech savvy

https://www.fastcompany.com/90503569/the-pandemic-is-changing-how-human-beings-think-about-status

and 

04-15-20THE REBUILDERS
Maker culture’s DIY spirit is helping us get through this pandemic
As engineers, doctors, and everyday citizens tackle urgent problems with repurposed materials and raw ingenuity, the Maker Faire vision is more potent than ever

https://www.fastcompany.com/90489974/the-maker-faire-spirit-is-helping-the-world-tackle-the-covid-19-crisis

- Sally








> On Dec 6, 2020, at 6:06 PM, Sarina Chen <sarina.chen at uni.edu> wrote:
> 
> *CFM--Discordant Pandemic Narratives in the U.S.*
> 
> Unlike Germany, Taiwan, or New Zealand, where there was an united front
> nationally, comating COVID-19 in 2020, the pandemic narratives in the US
> were discordant, which resulted in chaotic pandemic responses from the
> start.  The discordant narratives originated in the Situation Room among
> members of White House Coronavirus Task Force, which then spilled over into
> the Task Force's daily briefings, creating a situation of President Donald
> Trump vs. Dr. Anthony Fauci, a key figure in the Task Force, on issues
> regarding shelter-in-place, masks, or anti-malaria drugs, etc.  The
> conflicting views of President Trump and Dr. Fauci, confused the American
> public, at a critical time when clear guidance was needed.
> 
> On the state level, facing a national pandemic, governors looked to
> President Trump for leadership, but President Trump told the governors that
> they were on their own, as President Trump saw himself not as a national
> leader, but merely as a sideline supporter, in combating the pandemic.
> Governors had many complaints about the lack of federal guidance and help.
> One of the complaints was the competition from the federal government for
> medical supplies amid shortage, as the federal government worked to
> increase its own stockpile.  The lack of national coordination led to
> unnecessary competition.
> 
> In business, companies made their own safety rules as the federal
> government stands aside.  Unsafe rules were implemented, workers went to
> work fearing for their lives.  Conflicting practices were found in
> industries due to free-wheeling interpretations of government
> recommendations; for instance, human salons were closed, due to being a
> non-essential business, while animal salons were open, as they were part of
> the pet food stores.  Inconsistent practices led to outbreaks in
> meatpacking plants, long term care facilities, etc.
> 
> In addition, there was discordance among citizens in the US.  After
> President Trump had imposed restrictions on travel to China in January
> 2020, nearly 40,000 Americans made their trips to China.  Amid the
> coronavirus pandemic, 70 college students chartered a plane for spring
> break, only to find 44 with coronavirus upon return in March, 2020; and an
> Iowa man hosted 600 people in horse auction, ignoring social-distancing
> guidelines in April, 2020.  Churches held Palm Sunday services in April,
> 2020, despite state bans on gatherings. As the coronavirus pandemic
> escalated, only 2 in 5 Americans canceled plans to be in crowds for the
> Memorial weekend in May, 2020.  Discordant incidents were countless.
> 
> Due to the discordant narratives and chaotic responses, the death toll of
> COVID-19 stacked up quickly.  A fatality of two Vietnam Wars was recorded
> in just two months after the pandemic outbreak.  By October, 2020, more
> than a quarter million lives had been lost in the U.S. due to the pandemic.
> 
> The COVID-19 pandemic, a historical event, with such a high death toll,
> clearly calls for a careful examination of the discordant narratives that
> embodied the chaos, tensions, and conflicts in the U.S. pandemic
> responses.  My colleagues and I are proposing an edited volume to address
> the various forms of discordance found in pandemic narratives in the U.S.
> Works are solicited that address the theoretical significance and
> implications of the pandemic discordance from any discipline
> (communication, sociology, psychology, business, education, political
> science, etc.) using any metholodogical inquiries (quantitative,
> qualitative or rhetoric).  Works need to not only describe the discordance,
> but also address the theoretical significance of the discordance.  It is
> our hope that the discordance serves to illustrate the theories, and the
> theories provide a deeper understanding of the discordance.
> 
> Topics to be considered, but not limited to:
> 
> Preparation for a virus pandemic in the US
> Panic shopping as pandemic preparation
> Is COVID-19 pandemic a war?
> Federal government's responses to pandemic: order or chaos?
> President Trump's role in pandemic: leader or backup?
> The conflicting interest of health vs. economy in pandemic
> The conflicting interest of science vs. politics in pandemic
> President Trump vs. Dr. Fauci
> mask or no mask
> lock down or no lock down
> hydroxychloroquine or no hydroxychloroquine
> Personal freedom vs. social responsibility in pandemic
> Did states with few restrictions, have the worst outbreaks?
> The ethics of travel in pandemic
> Pandemic and the political divide
> Pandemic and technology
> Pandemic and education
> Pandemic and family
> Pandemic and church
> Pandemic and race
> Pandemic and racism
> Pandemic and environment
> Pandemic and crime
> Pandemic and mental health
> Pandemic and the homeless
> Pandemic and undocumented workers
> 
> If interested, please send an* abstract of no more than 750 words to Sarina
> Chen, sarina.chen at uni.edu <sarina.chen at uni.edu>, by January 15, 2021. *
> 
> We strongly encourage you to send us your abstract for consideration.
> Academic research has a social and historical role to fulfill, please help
> us fulfill this important role by addressing this important issue.  We
> would like not only the contemporary, but also the future generations, to
> understand just what went wrong in the COVID-19 pandemic responses in the
> U.S. that resulted in such a high death toll.  We need your expertise to
> help us achieve this goal.  Thank you for considering.
> 
> Any inquiries about this call for manuscripts, please contact Sarina Chen,
> sarina.chen at uni.edu.  Thanks again.
> 
> Sincerely,
> 
> Sarina Chen
> Professor, Dept of Communication and Media
> University of Northern Iowa
> *****************************
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