Coronavirus, capitalism and a 'thousand tiny dis/advantages': a more-than-human analysis

Area of Science:

• Sociology
• Public Health
• Environmental Science

Background:

• The COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted global health inequities.
• Mainstream public health approaches often overlook socio-economic and environmental factors.
• A post-anthropocentric perspective is needed to understand complex disease dynamics.

Purpose of the Study:

• To establish a relational, post-anthropocentric, and materialist framework for analyzing the COVID-19 pandemic.
• To explore how the pandemic assemblage subverted capitalist structures and facilitated global spread.
• To provide a more-than-human analysis of socio-economic disparities in COVID-19 outcomes.

Main Methods:

• Analysis of the 'pandemic assemblage' through a materialist lens.
• Application of a more-than-human and monist framework to capitalist production and markets.
• Examination of daily human-non-human interactions contributing to 'tiny dis/advantages'.

Main Results:

• The virus exploited and spread through the social and economic relations of capitalism.
• Socio-economic disparities in COVID-19 incidence and mortality are linked to capitalist production.
• Unequal occupational patterns of coronavirus incidence result from daily interactions with human and non-human matter.

Conclusions:

• A more-than-human, materialist approach offers a critical alternative to mainstream pandemic perspectives.
• Understanding these dynamics is crucial for effective policy against current and future outbreaks.
• Post-anthropocentric and relational analyses are vital for addressing global health crises.