Between Distancing and Interdependence: The Conflict of Solidarities in the COVID-19 Pandemic

Abstract

In a bid to contain the spread of COVID-19, different national states around the world have introduced strict measures to regulate social interaction that have affected the interdependence of modern societies. In this article, we argue that this handling of the pandemic produces a conflict of solidarities that can be interpreted by expanding Durkheim’s classic formulations (organic and mechanical solidarity) to include the distinction between fragmentary solidarity (based on distancing) and ordinary solidarity (based on empathy and equal treatment). The conflict is triggered precisely by the introduction of fragmentary solidarity. Through this conceptualization, we identify different paradoxes and problems that the pandemic poses for present-day society and analyze how it attempts to overcome them through a generalization of ordinary solidarity. The paper concludes that the conflict of solidarities that characterizes the pandemic is not a passing phenomenon. Its anchorage in the complexity and interdependence of contemporary technological, social, and natural conditions points to its persistence.

Solidarity and collectivism in the context of COVID-19

“…Now, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, the consequences of these commodifying policy decisions that were ‘based on a neoliberal paradigm (…) have repercussions for the scale of the crisis, the availability of critical care beds and ventilators and the number of people who are infected and die’. 32 …”

Helping Behavior of Older Adults during the Early COVID-19 Lockdown in Belgium

“…Belgium is of course not the only country to have imposed such strict rules to contain the coronavirus ( De Haas et al, 2020 ). Worldwide, most countries chose to impose a lockdown and implemented various mechanisms to regulate physical interaction, such as keeping physical distance, forbidding, or limiting public gatherings, restricting mobility, and closing borders ( Basaure et al, 2021 ).…”

“…By emphasizing the dependence of older adults, it has been implied that they were expected to need more help than other age groups during the pandemic ( Buffel et al, 2021 ; Fraser et al, 2020 ). Despite the associated restrictions imposed on the older population in our society and clear indications of ageism, several sociological reflections have been formulated around the theme of solidarity as a human response to the public health crisis ( Basaure et al, 2021 ). This study therefore aims to gain insight into the way in which older adults not only received but also provided help, for what motivational factors, and how this differs from younger age groups in the Belgian context.…”

Solidaridad y COVID-19 en Chile: tensiones y desafíos para afrontar la pandemia solidariamente

“…Según Tomasini (2021), durante la pandemia han primado tres invocaciones de la solidaridad: una solidaridad antropocéntrica utópica como vía para superar la COVID-19 (en el nosotros de la humanidad reunido para afrontar la pandemia); una solidaridad heterotópica, que reúne invocaciones ilusorias, contradictorias y que en realidad rompen con el ideal solidario (por ejemplo, en la implementación de medidas que tienen efectos muy desiguales); y finalmente, la más ausente, una solidaridad biocéntrica, con la totalidad de la vida (reconocimiento de que la crisis obedece a una perturbación del bios que debe repararse). Basaure et al (2021) ponen de relieve las contradicciones en las maneras en que se ha invocado a la solidaridad para afrontar la pandemia: la exigencia de responder al seguimiento de diversas formas de fragmentación social con fines sociosanitarios (mascarillas, distancia social, confinamientos, entre otras), chocaría con la mantención de una solidaridad ordinaria básica, basada en la empatía y la igualdad de trato.…”