COVID-19: Social Inequalities and Human Possibilities

COVID-19: Social Inequalities and Human Possibilities examines the  unequal impact of the COVID-19 pandemic on individuals, communities, and  countries, a fact seldom acknowledged and often suppressed or  invisible. Taking a global approach and including a comprehensive  timeline, this book demonstrates how the impact of the pandemic has  differed as a result of social inequalities, such as economic  development, social class, race and ethnicity, and access to health care  and education. The book concludes with cautious optimism and insights  into how global society can (re-)build a brighter post-COVID-19-pandemic  world.

Economic inequality between and within nations has  significantly contributed to the chances of individuals contracting and  dying from the virus. Developing nations with weak health care systems,  workers whose jobs cannot be performed remotely, the differences between  those with and without access to soap and water to wash their hands, or  the ability to practice physical distancing, also account for the  unequal impact of the virus. Racial and ethnic minorities experience  higher death rates from the virus, which has also unequally affected  indigenous peoples and urban and foreign migrants around the world.  Inequality is also embedded in national and international responses to  the pandemic, as giving and receiving aid is often impacted by  inequalities of demographic and national power and influence, resulting  in national and global competition rather than the collaboration needed  to end the pandemic.

Along with the other titles in Routledge’s  The COVID-19 Pandemic series, this book represents a timely and critical  advance in knowledge related to what many believe to be the greatest  threat to global ways of being in more than a century. COVID-19: Social  Inequalities and Human Possibilities is therefore indispensable for  academics, researchers, and students as well as activists and policy  makers interested in understanding the social impact of the COVID-19  pandemic and eradicating the inequalities it has exacerbated.