Towards a post-pandemic social contract

Abstract

Social contract theories serve a twofold purpose: by addressing acute crises, they elaborate solutions to long-standing social paradoxes. The article reinterprets the stakes of the Covid pandemic from this perspective. Firstly, the long-lasting structural paradoxes of late modernity are linked to the acute crisis of the pandemic with the help of critical theories of late modernity. It is argued that the pandemic provides opportunity for revaluating those social contracts, which are based on universalist principles of justice. Secondly, two paradigmatic historical examples (Hobbes, Rawls) are overviewed in a meta-theoretical fashion, so that the dimensions of revaluation could be highlighted. Thirdly, the foundations of a post-pandemic social contract are outlined. As the pandemic is inseparable from the structural paradoxes caused by unconstrained systems based on universal principles of justice, the post-pandemic social contract aims at preventing the system paradoxes by revaluating their universal principles in a ‘trial of particularity’ (Derrida, Levinas).

Social and Spatial Inequalities during COVID-19: Evidence from France and the Need for a New Sustainable Urban and Regional Development Paradigm

“…However, at social levels, "social contract" theories play a dual role: they both fuel political discourse and serve as philosophical reflections on the essence of societal life. To develop a social contract for the post-pandemic world that tackles poverty and inequality within the complexities of contemporary society, a solid methodological foundation is essential [77].…”

“…This delicate situation calls for a new "social contract" to ensure social equity both vertically (socially) and horizontally (spatially) in France. A political discourse and philosophical reflections on the essence of societal life are recommended for the post-pandemic world to tackle the complexities of contemporary society [77] in a new social contract which responds to new challenges of communities. Alexander et al [78] posed the question of a "social contract within public health", and asked whether healthcare is considered as a privilege or a right.…”