Populism, pestilence and plague in the time of coronavirus

Abstract

Purpose This paper aims to explore right wing populist government responses to the coronavirus pandemic. Design/methodology/approach This paper is a narrative overview of right-wing populist policies and strategies, which is loosely structured around fascistic themes set out in Albert Camus’ allegorical novel, The Plague. Findings Although individual responses to the coronavirus pandemic among right-wing populists differ, they appear to coalesce around four central themes: initial denial and then mismanagement of the pandemic; the disease being framed as primarily an economic rather than a public health crisis; a contempt for scientific and professional expertise; and the “othering” of marginal groups for political ends. Populist responses to the pandemic have given rise to increased levels of xenophobia, the violation of human rights and the denigration of scientific expertise. Research limitations/implications This is a narrative overview from a personal viewpoint. Originality/value Drawing on themes in Camus' novel The Plague, this is a personal perspective on right wing populist government responses to the coronavirus pandemic. Populist responses to the pandemic have given rise to increased levels of intolerance and xenophobia and the violation of human rights and civil liberties.

The rise of right-wing populism and the implications for health care during the COVID-19 pandemic and beyond

“…However, it is insufficient simply to highlight problems with regard to the veracity of populist rhetoric. Although populist government responses to the pandemic have differed, there are clear similarities that coalesce around four common themes: initial denial and then mismanagement of the pathogen; the pandemic being framed as primarily an economic rather than a public health crisis; a contempt for scientific and professional expertise; and the 'othering' of marginal groups for political ends (Mannion and Speed 2021). Populist politicians have aligned with antivaccination groups and used social media platforms to promote conspiracy theories -chiefly that pharmaceutical companies and political elites are covering up the truth that vaccines are unsafe in order to protect their profits.…”

“…Vaccination is known to be the most cost-effective public health intervention for the reduction of morbidity and mortality across a wide range of communicable and infectious diseases (Stewart and Devlin 2006;Bandyopadhyay et al 2015;Li et al 2022). Prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, the issue of vaccination was something of a cause célèbre amongst right-wing activists and politicians (Mannion and Speed 2021). Elsewhere, we have considered the example of Italy (Speed and Mannion 2020), a country with a long-standing tradition of high vaccine coverage (Day 2019) but where a populist-led antivaccine movement had political success and was able to question (at the level of state policy) the safety of mandatory vaccination policies.…”

“…Although many established liberal democracies have adopted populist political tactics and styles, it is clear that right-wing populist leaders in less consolidated democracies -such as Viktor Orbán in Hungary, Andrej Babis in the Czech Republic, and Mateusz Morawiecki in Poland -have used the pandemic as a window of opportunity to erode democratic norms, violate human rights, and tighten the executive's grip on power (Mannion and Speed 2021), with the governmental refrain being that extraordinary times require extraordinary measures. Witness how Orbán has used the COVID-19 crisis to invoke extensive emergency powers and declare an open-ended state of emergency.…”

“…During the pandemic, populist leaders have also used the deeply racist tropes of nativism by 'othering' minority groups who have been misrepresented via populist social media as virulent carriers of the virus, rather than victims worthy of sympathy and public support. These include Mexican immigrants being blamed in the USA, Hindu nationalists scapegoating Muslims in India, and Indigenous communities inculpated in Brazil (Mannion and Speed 2021). When in power, Trump sowed division along ethnic and national lines and repeatedly referred to the pandemic as the 'Chinese' or 'Kung Flu' virus.…”

Challenge and opportunity: Making sense of the ‘first lockdown’ experience of families with young children and health and social care practitioners in Southend-on-Sea (the United Kingdom)

“…In a widely read Lancet editorial, Abbasi (2021) explained how ‘more than a few countries have failed in their response to the virus’ and supported calls for governments to advance equity, reinvent and modernise the global pandemic alert system, take pandemic threats seriously, and cooperate better with other nations and the World Health Organization (WHO). Social science researchers have already started investigating the ‘biopolitical’ dimension of COVID-19, highlighting the complex socio-political dilemmas emerging from state action – or inaction – in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic (see, for example, Clover, 2021; Kapilashrami et al, 2021; Lavalette et al, 2020; Levine and Manderson, 2021; Mannion and Speed, 2021). For the current pandemic, once again, demonstrates how biology and the interaction between humans and their physical environments are profoundly political and contested areas (Ioakimidis, 2020).…”