Social Problems in the Age of COVID-19 Vol 2: Global Perspectives 9781447360629

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SOCIAL PROBLEMS IN THE AGE OF COVID-19 Volume 2: Global Perspectives EDITED BY GLENN W. MUSCHERT KRISTEN M. BUDD DAVID C. LANE JASON A. SMITH Book cover guidelines Monogram and bookmark The Monogram has been designed to keep all book covers anchored in the Policy Press brand regardless of book cover

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RAPID RESPONSE

Social Problems in the Age of COVID-​19 Volume 2: Global Perspectives

Edited by Glenn W. Muschert, Kristen M. Budd, David C. Lane, and Jason A. Smith

First published in Great Britain in 2020 by Policy Press, an imprint of Bristol University Press University of Bristol 1-​9 Old Park Hill Bristol BS2 8BB UK t: +44 (0)117 954 5940 e: bup-​[email protected] Details of international sales and distribution partners are available at policy.bristoluniversitypress.co.uk © Bristol University Press 2020 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library ISBN 978-​1-​4473-​6061-​2  ePub ISBN 978-​1-​4473-​6062-​9  ePdf The right of Glenn W. Muschert, Kristen M. Budd, David C. Lane and Jason A. Smith to be identified as editors of this work has been asserted by them in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988. All rights reserved:  no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of Bristol University Press. Every reasonable effort has been made to obtain permission to reproduce copyrighted material. If, however, anyone knows of an oversight, please contact the publisher. The statements and opinions contained within this publication are solely those of the editors and contributors and not of the University of Bristol or Bristol University Press. The University of Bristol and Bristol University Press disclaim responsibility for any injury to persons or property resulting from any material published in this publication. Bristol University Press and Policy Press work to counter discrimination on grounds of gender, race, disability, age and sexuality.

Contents



Acknowledgments  v Presidential Welcome  vii Corey W. Dolgon, Stonehill College Editorial Introduction  1 Glenn W. Muschert, Khalifa University of Science and Technology; Kristen M. Budd, Miami University; David C. Lane, Illinois State University; Jason A. Smith, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan

1. Isolation, Economic Desperation, and Exploitation: Human Trafficking and the COVID-​19 Crisis  5 Brittany Keegan, Virginia Commonwealth University 2. Uncertainty and Disruption in the Transition to Adulthood during COVID-​19   15 Arnaldo Mont’Alvao, Iowa State University; Pamela Aronson, University of Michigan-​Dearborn; Jeylan Mortimer, University of Minnesota 3. Disability Rights and Healthcare Rationing during COVID-​19  27 Bradley W. Williams, George Mason University 4. Social-​Distancing the Settler-​State:  Indigenous Peoples in the Age of COVID-​19  39 Theresa Rocha Beardall, Virginia Tech 5. The Pandemic and the Invisible Poor of the Global South: Slum Dwellers in Mumbai, India and Dhaka, Bangladesh  51 Nikhil Deb, Murray State University; Maya Rao, University of Tennessee

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iv Contents 6. The Human Right to Water and Sanitation in the Age of COVID-​19   61 Yvonne A. Braun, University of Oregon 7. Pandemic Perils of Migrant Workers: Inequalities Intensified  73 Reema Sen, Case Western Reserve University; Brian Gran, Case Western Reserve University 8. Food Insecurity and COVID-​19  87 Ninette Rothmüller, City University of New York (CUNY) 9. Protecting Refugee Health and Human Rights in the Context of the COVID-​19 Pandemic: Challenges and Pathways to Justice  99 Alex Oteino, Arcadia University 10. COVID-​19 Requires an Intersectional Feminist Policy Response  111 Kristy Kelly, Drexel University

End Matter 11. Think Piece: On Values, Security, and Wellbeing under the COVID-​19 Pandemic in 2020  123 Tatiana Karabchuk, United Arab Emirates University

Afterword  133 Michael Adorjan, University of Calgary Index  143

Acknowledgments

This rapid-​response volume has come to fruition due to the effective cooperation and support of so many people. We, the editors, wish to thank our authors, first, for working with us under short deadlines, and for leveraging their academic expertise and insight to provide high-​quality chapters. It is a pleasure to work with such a group of professionals to fill the need in society for rigorous knowledge regarding the impacts of the COVID-​ 19 pandemic on real people and societies more generally. We acknowledge the support of Justice 21 Committee member Michelle Christian and Robert Perrucci, who founded the committee. We are indebted to Michele Koontz and Héctor Delgado of the Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) administrative and executive offices, respectively, for their support and encouragement. We thank acquisitions editor Victoria Pittman and her team at Policy Press, with whom we have been pleased to collaborate on this rapid-​response book. Finally, we thank all our fellow students, scholars, practitioners, and activists who make the SSSP such an exciting environment in which to study, research, write, and undertake meaningful social action. Even in the midst of a pandemic which has disrupted nearly all areas of mundane life, our colleagues remain dedicated to providing rigorous public sociology. Finally, this volume is dedicated to the selfless healthcare workers who have been humanity’s frontline in responding to the pandemic; to those who have suffered directly and indirectly from the loss of family, friends, colleagues, and community members; to the most vulnerable among us who have borne the brunt of the pandemic and subsequent lockdowns; and to all those who serve without fail worldwide to provide stability in the face of substantial disruptions in v

vi Acknowledgments

social systems, including workers in education, transportation, groceries, pharmacies, and official agencies.

Presidential Welcome

The Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) was founded by social scientists who wanted to use their research, scholarship, and teaching to make the world a better place (Galliher and Galliher, 2001; Kolb, 1954). Debating the best strategies and practices for achieving this goal have remained a significant part of the organization’s history. SSSP President David Smith (2017) challenged us to “globalize” our study of social problems. He accurately argued that, as American sociology evolved as a discipline to focus on “society” as a concept, it did so within an increasingly narrow scope and specious project. The United States and Western Europe became the prototype of “society” while other groupings were examined as deviant subcultures and/​or underdeveloped nations. From the Chicago School (Abbott, 2017; Low and Bowden, 2013) through the structural-​ functionalism of Parson’s Cold War nationalism (Gilman, 2003; Latham, 2011) to theories that suggested a global political and ideological consensus around Bell’s (1960) End of Ideology and Fukuyama’s (1992) End of History and the Last Man, all came together to produce a deeply flawed yet dominant core for social science. The seemingly seamless modernist framework nurtured American sociologists and their global cohort to develop an increasingly elite, corporate, professionalized, patriarchal, and Eurocentric enterprise under the guise of objective inquiry and scientific analysis. The rise of anti-​colonial and anti-​imperialist movements in the second half of the 20th century birthed a more radical sociology that questioned the limitations of “society” as a concept and the triumphalism of western intellectual hegemony in general. Smith suggests, borrowing from previous SSSP President Evelyn Nakano Glenn (2000), that vii

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only a movement for “international citizenship” might offer a way to transform the exclusionary rhetoric and politics of the old liberal, modernist tradition with a more international, yet still liberal, narrative of global citizenship and human rights. For sociologists to support such reform movements and fulfill the SSSP mission, Smith and Glenn both concluded that we needed to be more global. Smith and Glenn are right about sociology. But their analysis still begins with the Chicago School’s Eurocentric, nativist model—​ a modernist intellectual framework for an elite white discipline. While both SSSP presidents recognized the foundational flaws of this approach (Smith promoted a Marxist critique of capitalism and Glenn the work of critical legal studies in deconstructing the inherent racial supremacy of citizenship narratives), they still recast liberal sociology in ways that left intact the barbarism of the original fallacy—​ capitalist exploitation, settler colonialism, environmental degradation, and white supremacy. The possibilities of a more radical analytical project engaged in challenging these forces get squelched when limited by the professional conventions and traditional models. It is one thing to suggest rethinking the economic and political structures of contemporary society to see how our scholarship might analyze them and promote change. It seems quite another to suggest a radical sociological project whose global perspective dismantles the very disciplinary foundations of the enterprise and suggests restructuring and reparations must be a baseline. For example, if global racial capitalism was a primary force shaping the institutional and ideological origins of sociology as a discipline, how different might our work have been if social science had been alternatively formed by the anti-​ racist and anti-​colonial social science of Ida B. Wells, W.E.B. DuBois, Jane Addams, Zora Neale Hurston, C.L.R. James, Frantz Fanon, Amílcar Cabral, and so many other radical social scientists (for example Deegan, 1988; Giddings, 2009; Go, 2017; Hurston, 2010; Itzigsohn and Brown, 2020; Manji and Fletcher, 2013; Morris, 2017; Robinson, 2000)? What if we pursued a more radically expansive theoretical and political praxis that began with a social scientific pursuit against colonialism and toward human liberation? Envisioning what

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might have been may ultimately be a futile endeavor, but the pressing calls for more global frameworks, analysis, and engagement must elicit such radical sensibilities and musings. The global nature of the current pandemic has forced us to focus once again on the inherent integration of international economic development, unequal and oppressive social and political systems, and in its most basic forms, the neoliberal death march that threatens our very health and survival as people and a planet. Like the “existential crisis” of global warming, COVID-​19 is living proof that changes in climate, capitalist development strategies, and the living and working conditions of displaced peoples around the globe will continue to create grave risks for everyone. As Mike Davis wrote recently, “The current pandemic expands the argument:  capitalist globalization now appears to be biologically unsustainable in the absence of a truly international public-​health infrastructure. But such an infrastructure will never exist until social movements break the power of Big Pharma and for-​profit healthcare” (2020, p. 35). Only by reframing our sociological analysis might we also reposition ourselves as radical scholars in legion with political movements for human liberation and planetary sustainability. In the face of these challenges and possibilities, I am honored, as 2020–​ 21 SSSP President, to introduce Social Problems in the Age of COVID-​ 19:  Volume 2:  Global Perspectives, published by Policy Press. I am always impressed by the breadth, depth and richness of my colleagues’ work, exposing and analyzing the ways in which forms of power and oppression impact marginalized populations both in the United States and around the world. In this volume, they pay particular attention to how local experiences and conditions shed light on global dynamics, and how global patterns of human activity and structural power permeate every nook and cranny of global suffering. Even more notable and crucial at this moment are chapters that shed light on how we as scholar activists and radical intellectuals can work with others to challenge the global forces of white supremacy and capitalist exploitation—​now melding into a powerful vision of fascism around the world. Now more than ever we have an opportunity to inform a new sense of historical and political

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global analysis with the call for—​and commitment to—​an international radical response. The germination of such a movement for radical sociological work can be found within these pages as they pour out in solidarity and struggle. Corey W. Dolgon, President of the Society for the Study of Social Problems, 2020–​21

Key Resources Abbott, Andrew. 2017. Department and Discipline: Chicago Sociology at One Hundred. Chicago: University of Chicago Press. Bell, David. 1960. The End of Ideology: On the Exhaustion of Political Ideas in the Fifties. Glencoe, IL: Free Press. Davis, Mike. 2020. The Monster Enters: COVID-​19, Avian Flu and the Plagues of Capitalism. New York: OR Books. Deegan, Mary Jo. 1988. Jane Addams and the Men of the Chicago School, 1892–​1918. New Brunswick: Transaction Publishers. Fukuyama, Francis. 1992. The End of History and the Last Man. London: Hamish Hamilton. Galliher, John F. and Galliher, James M. 2001. “Doing Justice to Elizabeth Briant Lee: The Co-​founder of the SSSP.” Social Problems, 48(1): 66–​70. Giddings, Paula J. 2009. Ida: A Sword Among Lions: Ida B. Wells and the Campaign Against Lynching. New York: HarperCollins. Gilman, Nils. 2003. Mandarins of the Future: Modernization Theory in Cold War America. Baltimore: Johns Hopkins University Press. Glenn, Evelyn Nakano. 2000. “Citizenship and Inequality:  Historical and Global Perspectives.” Social Problems, 47(1): 1–​20. Go, Julian. 2017. “Decolonizing Sociology: Epistemic Inequality and Sociological Thought.” Social Problems, 64(2): 194–​199. Hurston, Lucy Anne. 2010. “Zora Neale Hurston:  Pioneering Social Scientist.” In The Inside Light:  New Critical Essays on Zora Neale Hurston, edited by Deborah Plant. Santa Barbara: ABC-​CLIO. Itzigsohn, José and Brown, Karida L. 2020. The Sociology of WEB Du Bois: Racialized Modernity and the Global Color Line. New York: New York University Press. Kolb, William L. 1954. “The Impingement of Moral Values on Sociology.” Social Problems, 2(2): 66–​70. Latham, Michael E. 2011. The Right Kind of Revolution: Modernization, Development, and US Foreign Policy from the Cold War to the Present. Ithaca: Cornell University Press. Low, Jacqueline and Bowden, Gary. 2013. The Chicago School Diaspora:  Epistemology and Substance. Montreal:  McGill-​Queen’s University Press. Manji, Firoze and Fletcher, Bill. 2013. Claim No Easy Victories:  The Legacy of Amilcar Cabral. Dakar: CODESRIA.

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Morris, Aldon. 2017. The Scholar Denied: WEB Du Bois and the Birth of Modern Sociology. Berkeley: University of California Press. Robinson, Cedric J. 2000. Black Marxism:  The Making of the Black Radical Tradition. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press. Smith, David A. 2001. “Globalization and Social Problems.” Social Problems, 48(4): 429–​434. Smith, David A. 2017. “Globalizing Social Problems:  An Agenda for the Twenty-​first Century.” Social Problems, 64(1): 1–​13.

Editorial Introduction

Welcome to the second, global-​ focused volume of Social Problems in the Age of COVID-​19, a rapid-​response project in public sociology intended to provide a broad audience with rigorous scholarly insight on social problems during the COVID-​19 pandemic. All involved in this project have been compelled by the objective to provide timely and high-​ quality scholarly insight on the effects of COVID-​ 19 on social problems, which can be of use to scholars, students, activists, policymakers, journalists, and the interested public. The editors and authors expect these chapters will be of use to readers for making sense of the ongoing COVID-​19 crisis and its after-​effects, just as they will inform policy decisions and engagement in social action. The volume fits within the scholarly rubric of public sociology, and the editors are members of the Society for the Study of Social Problems’ (SSSP) Justice 21 Committee (J-​ 21), whose creation was inspired by the 2000 Presidential Address of Professor Robert Perrucci, 48th President of the SSSP and founding member of J-​21 (Perrucci, 2001). In his address, Dr Perrucci reminded SSSP members that much scholarship in the social problems field had become esoteric and abstract, thereby diminishing its utility as a resource for mitigating or solving the very problems which are its focus of study. Dr Perrucci’s reminder was that the SSSP and the journal Social Problems were established within a model of scholarship that saw research and publication as integrated with social action to address pressing social problems. Since its establishment, the J-​21 group has published a series of volumes titled Agenda for Social Justice (US-​focused) and Global Agenda for Social Justice (globally focused). (Links to 1

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open-​access copies of the volumes are available in the Key Resources.) Since the rise of the COVID-​19 pandemic and associated lockdowns, our editors, contributors, and publisher have not been satisfied to sit idly by watching massive social disruptions, especially as the negative effects of pandemic continue to fall upon marginalized populations. We were motivated by the sense that, especially in times of such crises, social scientists have something important to say, and that COVID-​19 has complicated and accelerated existing global social problems and inequalities. This project was initially intended to produce a single volume entitled Social Problems in the Age of COVID-​19, until a call for proposals returned an overwhelming 95 proposals in a one-​week period. As a result, the editors and publisher agreed to expand the project to two volumes, a first on US social problems, and a second on global issues. You now hold in your hands Social Problems in the Age of COVID-​19:  Volume 2:  Global Perspectives, whose subtitle highlights its focus on examining the pandemic’s effect on social problems of international, regional, and global scope. This volume includes 11 topical chapters examining the pandemic’s effect on some of the world’s most pressing problems, and one think piece intended to spark reflection on more abstract aspects of social problems. As editors, it has been our pleasure to assemble a diverse group of contributors, each with experience and expertise regarding global social issues in nearly every corner of the world. Each chapter is intended to stand on its own, yet all follow a uniform three-​section format including the defining of a social problem, offering evidence for the nature and extent of the problem, and providing concrete solutions to address the problem. This final section is the highpoint of each chapter, providing the reader with practicable examples of social action and social policy which have proved successful in alleviating the respective social problem. The focus on recommendation and solutions is an alternative approach to much social problems discourse, which emphasizes the conceptual definition of problems and the presentation of facts about problems. As a whole, the chapters provide a prescription for praxis in improving

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a broad array of global social problems including challenges associated with the transition from adolescence, disability rights, urban slum dwellers, migrants, refugees, cybercrime, human trafficking, gender inequality, access to water and sanitation, and food security. These social problems are truly of global concern, many affecting populations in the hundreds of millions worldwide. It is, however, also important to note that no collection can comprehensively cover the gamut of existent social problems worldwide. Therefore, it is important to recognize that many pressing social problems, though important in today’s world, are not covered in this volume. It is also important to note that the pandemic days will eventually end, as humanity has lived through pandemics before. The uncertainly is that no one knows precisely when the pandemic will end, and whether it will ever be possible to return to an old sense of normal, or whether a new normal must establish itself. The volume includes a think piece concerning the COVID-​19 pandemic’s effect on social norms as measured via the World Values Survey. The chapter’s author reminds us that the pandemic has affected the social and economic lives of nearly everyone on the planet. However, while it is widely claimed in public discourse that COVID-​19 changes everything, nonetheless a social stability persists. Thus, while social life has been greatly disrupted via the pandemic, it seems that underlying social values governing social behaviors and beliefs are much slower to change. Indeed, humanity maintains its own stability via shared values undergirding the social system, and these fundamental social structures may even be strengthened by the pandemic crisis. Therein lies the need for fundamental sociological insight into the pandemic effects on society, which in addition to acting as an accelerant to many social problems, may similarly re-​entrench existing inequalities. In closing, it is the editors’ hope that this volume will resonate with readers seeking practical recommendations and guidance for the solution of the global social problems herein addressed. The aim is to inspire readers to reflect on the suggestions provided, and more importantly, to take action. The reader is invited to take the volume’s ideas into classrooms and spaces of public discourse, and to use them as a basis for

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fruitful conversations. It is the editors’ vision that readers will share the vision and application of research-​informed social action and policy to create socially just solutions to global social problems during this age of COVID-​19 and beyond. Glenn W. Muschert, Khalifa University of Science and Technology Kristen M. Budd, Miami University David C. Lane, Illinois State University Jason A. Smith, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan

Key Resources Perrucci, Robert. 2001. Inventing Social Justice: SSSP and the Twenty-​ First Century. Social Problems, 48(2):  159–​167. https://​doi.org/​ 10.1525/​sp.2001.48.2.159 Electronic copies of all volumes of the Agenda for Social Justice are available for open-​access download at www.sssp1.org/​index.cfm/​ m/​771/​locationSectionId/​0/​Agenda_​for_​Social_​Justice. Electronic copies of the Global Agenda for Social Justice are available for open-​access download at www.sssp1.org/​index.cfm/​m/​323/​locationSectionId/​0/​Global_​Agenda_​for_​Social_​Justice.

1 Isolation, Economic Desperation, and Exploitation Human Trafficking and the COVID-​19  Crisis Brittany Keegan The Problem

While the world’s attention has shifted to the COVID-​19 crisis, many who are experiencing or who are at risk of experiencing human trafficking have lost access to resources that can provide them with protection and assistance. Human trafficking, defined by the United Nations Convention against Transnational Organized Crime as “the recruitment, transportation, transfer, harbouring or receipt of persons, by means of the threat or use of force or other forms of coercion … or of the giving or receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of a person having control over another person, for the purpose of exploitation,” can take many forms. These include domestic servitude, the exploitation of migrant workers (for example, those working in the seafood processing, agriculture, and tobacco industries), forced labor in establishments such as restaurants and sweatshops, sexual exploitation, mail order brides, trafficking for adoptions, and peddling/​begging rings. Trafficking was pervasive in society globally, domestically, and locally even before the pandemic began. Now, the problem has been exacerbated further. While the exact number of trafficked individuals is not known, in 2018 the U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline reported 10,494 human trafficking cases and 23,078 survivors. According to the human trafficking prevention organization Safe Horizon, women and girls are 5

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disproportionately affected by human trafficking, accounting for 71 percent of all survivors. The COVID-​19 pandemic has, according to many reports, increased these numbers. Organizations focused on preventing and responding to human trafficking such as the Polaris Project have found that ongoing impacts of shutdowns and social distancing, including increased isolation, loss of income, loss of access to supportive resources (for example in-​person interactions with service providers), hesitation to access medical services due to fear of exposure, increased online activity, and a shift of law enforcement attention away from trafficking to other issues, can place already marginalized individuals more at risk of being trafficked. Children in particular have become more vulnerable, as they are more likely to engage in online activities such as social media and video games while also being separated from mandated reporters such as teachers and guidance counselors. While this problem is ongoing, practitioners and researchers are quickly working to evaluate the changing situation and to identify potential solutions to address human trafficking during and after the pandemic.

Research Evidence

While information and exact numbers related to how the current COVID-​19 pandemic is impacting human trafficking is still being collected, the data that have already been gathered by organizations working with survivors of human trafficking point to a concerning trend. As has already been discussed, the COVID-​19 pandemic and subsequent social distancing practices have led to increased isolation and increased risk for those impacted by human trafficking. At the same time, service providers and anti-​trafficking organizations working to identify and support human trafficking survivors are facing new struggles as support from community members and funding agencies decreases, which in turn leads to a decrease in their ability to assist. According to the Network Against Human Trafficking and Slavery, this includes a decrease in donations, a limited ability to fundraise and hold fundraising events due to social distancing requirements, and a decrease

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in the number of individuals willing to work as volunteers due to fear of exposure. It also includes a decrease in funding from grants, as funding agencies have shifted their funding priorities to focus on combating and mitigating other effects of the pandemic. Other needs that have been noted include increased training for first responders and service providers, increased services and support such as all forms of healthcare, increased outreach/​ awareness efforts targeting those interacting with the public such as grocery store workers and those operating food banks, and expanded virtual platforms for training and outreach. A report from the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) noted ways that the COVID-​19 pandemic has made it more difficult for those impacted by trafficking to seek help. Many shelters for survivors have been forced to close, as social distancing within a shelter environment is difficult to achieve. In addition, human trafficking survivors who had been granted temporary immigration visas now face difficulty during the renewal process. If they are unable to renew the visas, they are more likely to have to return to a dangerous environment. There have also been reports of landlords taking advantage of tenants facing unemployment and eviction, and requesting sex in lieu of rent payments. We can also look to research conducted during previous pandemics that has identified ways that risks for trafficking are exacerbated through these and other types of disasters and crises. The UNODC, for example, has noted that countries that had experienced pandemics were likely to see increases in trafficking. Reasons for this include increased isolation and stigma, separation from and death of family members, and an influx of people into the country as outsiders arrive to provide support. As another example, a report published by Plan International shows that 10 percent of children knew of girls forced into prostitution after losing a family member during the 2014–​16 Ebola outbreak. Another report from the same organization shows that Sierra Leone saw an increase in exploitation against women and girls, as well as an increase in teen pregnancies, during and after the Ebola outbreak.

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Recommendations and Solutions

This section offers recommendations as to how organizations working to prevent and address human trafficking can address some of the challenges presented by the COVID-​19 pandemic. This includes finding new resources, and effectively and efficiently using the resources that they already have. It also addresses ways that governments and individuals can support these efforts. Seek New Sources of Funding and Support for Organizations

While finding more resources, and financial resources especially, could arguably be the more effective way for organizations to combat human trafficking, it is also one of the most challenging to accomplish. Funds are scarce for all, and with the economic crisis that has followed the pandemic crisis it seems likely that many nonprofits and human services organizations will continue to struggle. While this current decrease in funding due to a shift in focus to the pandemic and healthcare is understandable, policymakers must not forget about those facing other challenges and, fortunately, there have been some instances in which new funding has become available to those working to combat human trafficking. New opportunities for federal funding in the United States (for example, in spring 2020 the United States Federal Health and Human Services Office on Trafficking in Persons released a new solicitation for competitive grants) have arisen. Similar funding opportunities from state and federal governments across the world would provide crucial, large-​scale support. Such opportunities would also decrease the need for smaller-​ scale donation solicitations via fundraising events, and so on, thus decreasing the need for organizations to choose between social distancing and fundraising. Engage in Collaborations with Other Organizations

In addition, human trafficking organizations can work together to creatively make use of their limited resources. For example, these organizations can benefit from increased

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collaboration with other organizations with similar missions. Existing studies indicate that engaging in collaborations can help to increase the effectiveness of nonprofit and human service organizations, and of human trafficking agencies specifically, and can manifest in two ways:  internal collaborations (collaborations between individuals involved in a single organization) and external collaborations (individuals from different organizations working together). Such collaborations could involve multiple organizations coming together virtually to organize and participate in training programs, identifying ways that current volunteers could get involved in new tasks within their organization, and organizational specialization. With specialization, each organization working to address human trafficking could choose a few areas in which to specialize rather than try to address all needs of survivors. While the exact specialty or specialties will depend on the organization’s strengths and available resources, some examples of specialization include focusing specifically on child survivors, on a particular type of trafficking such as sex trafficking or forced labor, or on providing a certain type of service for survivors such as housing. Organizations could then refer clients to one another, allowing each organization to focus primarily on its areas of specialization. Such collaborations have also been shown to build positive relationships and networks among organizations and the individuals working in them, as well as to allow for the sharing of knowledge. All of these outcomes have in turn been shown to increase organizational effectiveness due to the collaborations and division of labor. Some organizations have already engaged in new collaborations due to the pandemic, such as the United States Department of Justice, the United States Department of Homeland Security, and the Polaris Project. During the summer of 2020, these organizations worked together to facilitate online training courses for communities to better understand the warning signs and risk factors of human trafficking, as well as steps that can be taken to prevent trafficking from occurring. Solutions such as this can and should continue even after the COVID-​19 pandemic ends, as virtual training opportunities may be more accessible to

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some than in-​person trainings. Training should also focus on ways that the pandemic has increased risk factors of human trafficking and, once the pandemic has ended, can continue to be tailored to address how human trafficking is impacted by current societal issues. Use a Survivor-​centered Approach to Service Delivery when Working with Survivors

Another solution is to ensure that the services being provided to survivors are truly in the best interests of those impacted by human trafficking, and that services are adapted to meet unique needs that have arisen during the pandemic. Doing so will help to increase organizational effectiveness and thus make the best use of the limited resources with which organizations are working. Engaging in a survivor-​centered approach, in which the needs and wishes of the survivor are prioritized and in which the survivor has control over their experiences and outcomes, has been found to be most effective. This allows the survivor to have agency over their experience working with service providers, rather than having decisions be made for them. When this is not done, services can at times be counterproductive. According to research conducted by the Office of Justice Programs, this is particularly true during cases in which the services provided to survivors are not considerate of the diverse needs of survivors and instead focus on punishment rather than healing. Another aspect of using a survivor-​centered approach is to consider intersectionality, in which the unique identities and social locations of each survivor are considered during service provision rather than using a one-​size-​fits-​all approach. During the pandemic, individual factors such as socioeconomic status and family status may be especially relevant, as many of the increased risk factors for human trafficking relate to a lack of financial resources and a lack of family support. Race is another relevant factor to consider, as minorities have been found to be more vulnerable to the effects of COIVD-​19. Service providers should pay close attention to how these factors may continue to impact survivors and their risk of experiencing further trafficking.

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Provide Social Support at the Governmental Level

At a macro level, governments can create (and organizations and individuals can support) policies that will provide social supports, such as affordable housing, continued eviction moratoriums, accessible and affordable healthcare, fair wages, and continued pandemic unemployment assistance, which can help prevent the desperation that can increase susceptibility to trafficking. These policies are likely to originate at the federal or state levels. On a more micro level, state and local governments can create policies and programs that will help to address human trafficking during the pandemic. This may include targeted trainings for those more likely to encounter survivors (for example hotel workers, landlords, and flight attendants), as well as employment programs to help survivors integrate safely into the workforce. Employment programs would need to focus specifically on the challenges that the pandemic presents, such as the loss of service and tourism jobs, and ensure that survivors can learn the skills necessary for jobs that are more likely to be available during times of social distancing while also protecting their health. Provide Social Support at the Individual Level

In addition to considering the problem from an organizational or governmental perspective, we can also consider it from an individual perspective by exploring what the average person can do to help those at heightened risk of trafficking during the pandemic. Individuals can work to educate themselves about human trafficking so that they can learn the signs, risk factors, new issues that have arisen due to the pandemic, work being done to address the problem, and ways that they can help. They can also take advantage of any training or education on human trafficking provided by nonprofit and government agencies so that they are aware of the signs of trafficking and steps that they can take to support survivors. Because the pandemic has raised the need for virtual training and education options, such training and education programs may become more accessible for all as barriers such as transportation are removed. Finally, they give support

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directly to human trafficking organizations to the extent that they are able, including financial donations and time spent volunteering if it is safe to do so. Moving forward, and especially in light of the current challenges faced by human trafficking organizations, support from others and a sense of collaboration will be key in prevention and rescue efforts of human trafficking survivors during the time of the COVID-​ 19 pandemic. As society works to combat the virus, we must ensure that we do not forget those who are most at risk. Human trafficking and other social problems have not stopped due to the pandemic, and are still deserving of attention and resources. Human trafficking existed long before the pandemic and will continue to exist after, but by coming together and supporting those working to combat it, we can bring about positive, long-​term change.

Key Resources Aviles, G. 2020. “Landlords are Targeting Vulnerable Tenants to Solicit Sex in Exchange for Rent, Advocates Say.” Retrieved July 20, 2020. Available at www.nbcnews.com/​news/​us-​news/​landlords-​are-​ targeting-​vulnerable-​tenants-​solicit-​sex-​exchange-​rent-​advocates-​ n1186416. Harold, J. 2017. “The Collaboration Game:  Solving the Problem of Nonprofit Partnership.” Stanford Social Innovation Review. Retrieved July 19, 2020. Available at ssir.org/​articles/​entry/​the_​ collaboration_​game_​solving_​the_​puzzle_​of_​nonprofit_​partnership. Harvey, J., Hornsby, R., and Sattar, Z. 2015. “Disjointed Service: An English Case Study of Multi-​Agency Provision in Tackling Child Trafficking.” British Journal of Criminology, 55: 494–​513. Office of Justice Programs. 2017. “Mental Health Needs.” Retrieved July 12, 2020. Available at www.ovcttac.gov/​ taskforceguide/​ eguide/​4-​supporting-​victims/​44-​comprehensive-​victim-​services/​ mental-​health-​needs/​. Plan International. 2015. “Children’s Ebola Recovery Assessment:  Sierra Leona.” Retrieved July 29, 2020. Available at https://​plan-​international.org/​publications/​ childrens-​ebola-​recovery-​assessment#download-​options. Plan International. 2015. “Children Report Increased Exploitation, Teenage Pregnancies in Ebola-​ Affected Sierra Leona.” Retrieved August 1, 2020. Available at https://​ plan-​ international.org/​ press- ​ r eleases/ ​ c hildren- ​ r eport- ​ i ncreased- ​ e xploitation-​ t eenage-​ pregnancies-​ebola-​affected-​sierra-​leone.

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Polaris Project. 2020. Retrieved July 15, 2020. Available at https://​ polarisproject.org/​. United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. 2020. “Impact of the COVID-​ 19 Pandemic on Trafficking in Persons:  Preliminary Findings and Messaging Based on Rapid Stocktaking.” Retrieved July 23, 2020. Available at www.unodc.org/​documents/​Advocacy-​ Section/​HTMSS_​Thematic_​Brief_​on_​COVID-​19.pdf. U.S. National Human Trafficking Hotline. n.d. Retrieved July 15, 2020. Available at https://​humantraffickinghotline.org/​. Willems, J., Boenigk, S., and Jegers, M. 2014. “Seven Trade-​ Offs in Measuring Nonprofit Performance and Effectiveness.” VOLUNTAS:  International Journal of Voluntary and Nonprofit Organizations, 25: 1648–​1670.

About the Author

Brittany Keegan, PhD is Director of Research and Outreach at Virginia Commonwealth University’s Center for Public Policy. Her research examines the role of nonprofits in supporting those impacted by violence and/​ or conflict, with a primary focus on refugee and immigrant populations and those impacted by gender-​based violence. Recent and ongoing projects include an evaluation of the effectiveness and responsiveness of nonprofits in promoting refugee integration, and the creation of training programs related to achieving housing equity for marginalized populations.

2 Uncertainty and Disruption in the Transition to Adulthood during COVID-​19 Arnaldo Mont’Alvao, Pamela Aronson, and Jeylan Mortimer

The Problem

The COVID-​ 19 pandemic has jeopardized the successful transition to adulthood for many youth around the world. The present health and economic crisis has diminished youth’s capacity to acquire key adult markers, including finishing school, the acquisition of stable employment, obtaining an independent residence, marriage, and parenthood. Due to significant and widespread disruptions stemming from the pandemic, youth have become increasingly vulnerable at a critical life stage. Inequalities in the transition to adulthood, already problematic before the pandemic, have deepened. However, the impacts of COVID-​ 19 on youth are not uniform across countries; they depend largely on national institutional arrangements and social policy. This chapter addresses the implications of COVID-​19 and its aftermath for educational, employment, and family-​related transitions to adulthood. The economic downturn and uncertainty induced by the pandemic have resulted in wide-​ ranging effects on postsecondary education and training, from the availability of public funding for these programs to their affordability. Unemployment and reductions in work hours have lessened families’ capacity to pay for their children’s tuition and other educational costs. Moreover, in some countries, for the first time in the history of higher education, attendance may be a health risk that could discourage enrollment and completion. 15

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In this context, youth may lower their educational aspirations, have increasing difficulty obtaining postsecondary educational degrees, and/​or drop out due to lack of resources. These problems could exacerbate preexisting racial and class inequalities in educational outcomes, leading to increasingly divergent socioeconomic opportunities both within and between countries. Similarly, the COVID-​ 19 pandemic has jeopardized young people’s successful entry to, and establishment in, the workforce. Long-​term structural changes and increased global competition have made work uncertain and unstable, especially for young adults entering the job market. The pandemic has worsened this problem and is likely to widen occupational and income inequalities. The lack of institutional bridges from school to work in some countries, such as the United States, China, and Brazil, makes job entry particularly challenging, even in good economic times. As labor markets tighten in such countries during this pandemic, youth have experienced mounting unemployment from which they will struggle to fully recover even when economic conditions improve. Young adults who are unemployed during the pandemic will likely experience long-​term disadvantage in the labor market, as they compete with new workforce entrants without extensive unemployment gaps in their résumés. Furthermore, obtaining full-​time work and financial stability are generally prerequisites for leaving home, marriage, and parenthood. COVID-​19 has disrupted family formation, as many young adults return to live with their families of origin. It has also diminished the likelihood that youth will become homeowners at the same age as their parents’ generation, thereby decreasing their future accumulations of wealth. In short, many young adults have experienced monumental difficulties due to the pandemic at a time when their choices and behaviors in multiple spheres will be highly consequential for their future life trajectories.

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Research Evidence

Since the COVID-​19 pandemic has been with us for less than a year, little research to date has examined its full impacts on the contemporary transition to adulthood. We know, however, that the pandemic has already delayed the acquisition of markers of adulthood. The pandemic has threatened youth’s educational achievement and will likely depress their acquisition of postsecondary degrees. A large body of research, conducted across countries, documents the critical importance of educational attainment for adult occupational status and income. UNESCO estimates that school closures took place in more than 180 countries, affecting 90 percent of the world student population at all levels of the education system, including colleges, universities, and postsecondary technical/​vocational programs. With the advent of remote instruction, many disadvantaged students in both high-​income and developing countries found themselves on the wrong side of a digital divide, threatening their ability to complete their educations. The digital divide may also increase educational gaps between low-​and high-​income countries, considering their unequal ability to provide training and guidance for teachers and quality instruction for students. With respect to employment, the International Labour Organization estimates that more than one in six young people lost their jobs during the pandemic, and those with jobs had their hours reduced by almost 25 percent. In many countries, initial restrictions shut down major industries (eg restaurants and hospitality, the retail sector) that typically employ large numbers of young people. Job losses among young Europeans were three times higher than among older adults, and in countries like Spain and Greece, where youth unemployment has remained at over 30 percent since the Great Recession, it is estimated that the pandemic could drive unemployment over 35 percent. In the US, the youth unemployment rate more than doubled between January 2020 (11.7 percent) and April 2020 (25.5 percent). In China, with millions of new college graduates entering the labor market each year, approximately 14 percent of youth labor force participants were out of work during the pandemic. As most countries try to reopen their

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economies, youth unemployment rates tend to improve at least slightly, but many young workers will experience longer-​ term unemployment. Inability to work during this critical life stage hampers opportunities for skill development and the accumulation of work experience, thereby also threatening successful adult occupational careers. The COVID-​19 pandemic has also reduced the capacity of young people to achieve family-​related transition markers. It has disrupted the process of leaving home, as many youth, having achieved some degree of independent residence, were forced to return to their families of origin. In fact, data from the Current Population Survey shows that an unprecedented number of young people moved back home in 2020 in the US. When the pandemic hit, college students had to move out of their dorms or off-​campus housing, and youth employed in non-​essential businesses, having lost their source of income, became unable to pay their rents. Youth whose romantic partners were not co-​resident prior to the pandemic would no longer be able to see them face-​to-​face without violating executive orders. Slowing or disrupting the course of romantic relationships would possibly delay cohabitation, marriage, and parenthood. As previous research shows, delay in family-​ related transitions interferes with adult identity formation and fosters feelings of being “off time” in acquiring markers of adulthood. Thus, those who perceive themselves as “late” with respect to family-​related markers have difficulty thinking of themselves as adults. Taking on an adult identity is linked to the enactment of pro-​social behaviors associated with adult status, such as voting and volunteering; those who engage in adolescent-​like “risky,” deviant, and unlawful behaviors feel less like adults.

Recommendations and Solutions

The COVID-​ 19 pandemic has affected the transition to adulthood in most countries around the world, but its impact has varied considerably across countries. As nations differ in their policies and interventions developed in response to the pandemic, as well as in their extant programs, institutional

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structures, and policies prior to the pandemic, some have been more effective than others in helping youth navigate these hard times. For example, differences in the accessibility of affordable college education, the strength of the links between the educational system and the labor market, and access to programs that facilitate homeownership affect the degree to which youth experience difficulties in transitioning to adult roles. Policy changes and supports aimed at disadvantaged youth are needed to address long-​term outcomes that can inhibit the transition to adulthood. Increase Resources to Postsecondary Educational Programs, Especially those that Target Disadvantaged Youth and Young Adults

The pandemic has created worldwide obstacles for young people’s educational trajectories. As these obstacles promise to accentuate educational inequalities based on social class, race, and gender, as well as between countries, strong policy responses are necessary to alleviate such disproportional effects. While strengthening the safety net in general will assist struggling youth in times of need and help to ameliorate their problems, young adults coming of age in a pandemic need specific educational supports. These interventions should target educational institutions that serve disadvantaged populations, as well as disadvantaged students directly. Particular attention should be directed to the plight of young girls in developing countries. School closures, for example, during the Ebola crisis in Africa, have increased girls’ domestic responsibilities and precipitated school dropout. If the pandemic leads to similar outcomes, it could reverse the significant educational gains made during the last few decades. While in some countries, such as Germany, Sweden, Argentina, and Egypt, higher education is tuition-​ free, in many others, like the United States, Great Britain, Japan, and Chile, college tuition can be a formidable expenditure for most families. In these latter countries, the economic fallout from the pandemic has made it even harder for families to shoulder the high costs of attendance. As stress on municipal, state, and federal budgets around the world mounts (due to declining tax revenues and expenditures related to the pandemic),

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pressure will increase to reduce monetary support for publicly supported educational institutions. Instead, educational allocations should be retained or even augmented. Without such support, colleges and universities, facing declines in student enrollments and reduced public support, will look to tuition increases to remain viable. Increases in government-​ sponsored educational appropriations are needed to lower costs, especially for disadvantaged students, and to widen opportunities for re-​training as employment in some sectors may not recover. When the pandemic hit, many college students, especially those from working-​class and poor families, found themselves in dire economic circumstances. In the US, many of those in immediate need received emergency grants through the Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act. Additionally, some local governments announced plans to deepen financial support of higher education students in need, as well as to expand programs for frontline workers, grocery store employees, and those in trash collection to enable them to pursue postsecondary education tuition-​ free. Recommendations include increasing direct support to students through short-​term programs to alleviate food and housing insecurity. Awareness campaigns should be developed, or augmented, to ensure that young adults are informed about the programs for which they are eligible. In the long term, governmental support must increase in countries that rely heavily on tuition to finance higher education. Enhanced appropriations are necessary to enable more students to attend college and vocational training programs and to reduce the burden of student debt. Augment Youth’s Digital and Technical Skills

The sudden and widespread lockdowns prompted increased internet and computer usage as many functions of everyday life moved online, including remote work and learning, purchasing, healthcare, and entertainment streaming. This widespread transformation heightens demand for skills in all sectors that increasingly rely on advanced technologies. In many developing countries, women’s concentration in informal

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work and high-​risk occupations makes them especially at risk during economic downturns; the acquisition of computer and other technical skills would lessen their vulnerability. The creation of educational programs for digital skill development, at both secondary and postsecondary levels, should be a key component of national recovery plans. This will help youth navigate an increasingly unstable labor market and provide new digital and other technical capabilities. Such training programs can take place in secondary schools, institutions of higher education, vocational certification programs, or in other venues such as youth and community centers. Strengthen Bridges from School to Work

Because strong bridges from school to work smooth the transition to the labor market, especially in times of economic downturn, linkages between education and the labor market should be established, or strengthened, across countries. Some countries already have strong institutional bridges. For example, Germany’s apprenticeship program, or “dual system,” integrates educational instruction and “hands on” experience in workplaces. As a result, youth unemployment rates in Germany remained low and steady during the pandemic, hovering around 5 percent. Countries with similar “dual systems” (for example Austria, Switzerland, the Netherlands, and others) similarly protected their young workers. Bridges between school and work can be structured in other ways as well. Secondary schools in Japan have traditionally had strong relationships with employers, recommending their graduates for employment based on scholastic performance. Some vocational schools in the United States likewise support their graduates by cultivating connections with local employing organizations, enhancing their ability to find placements for their students. US colleges and universities maintain career services units that support job fairs, provide counselling and assistance with cover letters and preparation of résumés. Without access to such formalized school-​to-​work bridges, and especially when the job market is tight, young adults are subject to high risks of unemployment following educational completion.

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To protect young people’s employment prospects during times of recession and to avoid widening the gap between more and less advantaged youth, new policies are needed to build or strengthen pathways between school and work in countries where those links are weak, especially for youth less well situated with respect to familial resources. Countries where apprenticeship programs are threatened by falling revenues should subsidize these programs to insure their continuing vitality. The “Youth Guarantee” program, implemented by the European Union to facilitate young people’s transition to the labor market after the Great Recession, is a good example of an ongoing comprehensive initiative to enhance employability by combining continued education, apprenticeships, and training. Many countries would benefit from similar long-​ term programs, with special attention to young women’s occupational trajectories. Protect Young People during Severe Economic Downturns with Income Maintenance Programs

Policies designed to diminish the recessionary effects of the pandemic on individual purchasing power vary considerably across countries. During the COVID-​ 19 pandemic, some European countries nationalized payrolls, which helped to provide many workers with quick access to subsidized wages and protect them against unemployment. While this policy offers limited help for workers under temporary contracts, it is advantageous for many young people, who are often the first laid off (as they were the most recently hired) during an economic downturn. Another approach is to subsidize youth employment. In the UK, the government has proposed the creation of a fund to support six-​month job placements for unemployed young people, and youth in other countries would benefit from similar programs. The US, however, has relied more heavily on the expansion and supplementation of unemployment benefits. Youth unemployment there increased sharply and many young people faced considerable delays in access to these benefits. In Brazil, a program to support self-​ employed workers

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was also marked by delays and disruptions, leaving many young workers unsupported for many months. While some unemployed youth can rely on their families to help them, when economic downturn is widespread parents may also have become unemployed or experienced wage reductions. Expansion of policies to replenish lost wages at times of severe economic downturn, for youth as well as older workers, can help prevent poverty, homelessness, and food insecurity, as well as the macroeconomic “ripple effects” of lost purchasing power in exacerbating economic crisis. These policies could take the form of subsidized organizational payrolls, but should be expanded to include independent contractors, consultants, care workers, and other precarious workers, many of whom are youth. Income maintenance can also be provided by government-​sponsored employment programs (hiring youth to work in parks, schools, playgrounds, etc.). Implement Policies to Help Youth Become Economically Independent, Establish their Own Households, and Form Families of Procreation

Educational and occupational uncertainties during the pandemic have precipitated disruptions in youth living arrangements and have delayed family formation. Policies targeted at young adults, described earlier, need to be put in place to solidify youth’s establishment in the world of work, thereby insuring their viability as romantic partners, spouses, and parents, and improving conditions for homeownership. Such policies are especially important for disadvantaged youth whose lack of educational credentials reduce their capacity to obtain jobs with sufficient income to enable home-​leaving and to promote family formation. As noted, at the start of the pandemic, young people around the world moved home when their colleges transitioned to remote learning or when they lost jobs, no longer able to support themselves. Many will find themselves unable to live independently even as the pandemic subsides, given weak employment prospects during the expected worldwide economic downturn. Policies that stabilize employment and increase homeownership among young adults can help

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them acquire this key marker of adulthood. For example, government-​ sponsored housing programs in Singapore have helped young people to purchase starter homes. The absence of similar programs in many Western countries has diminished young people’s ability to leave home and to accumulate wealth. Relieving young adult economic insecurity by instituting living wages, strengthening the safety net, and making publicly provided day care and after-​school care widely available would also increase youth’s ability to achieve the family-​related markers of adulthood, including marriage and parenthood.

Key Resources Aronson, P. 2017. “Contradictions in the American Dream:  High Educational Aspirations and Perceptions of Collapsing Institutions.” International Journal of Psychology, 52: 49–​57. Aronson, P., Callahan, T., and Davis, T. 2015. “The Transition to Adulthood during the Great Recession: Employment, Financial and Identity Challenges.” Journal of Youth Studies, 18(9): 1097–​1118. International Labour Organization. 2020. ILO Monitor:  COVID-​19 and the World of Work. Fourth edition. Geneva: International Labour Organization. Retrieved July 14, 2020. Available at www.ilo.org/​ wcmsp5/​groups/​public/​@dgreports/​@dcomm/​documents/​briefingnote/​wcms_​745963.pdf. Kahn, Michael. 2020. “Coronavirus ‘Class of 2020’:  Europe’s Lost Generation?” Reuters, July 9. Retrieved July 11, 2020. Available at www.reuters.com/​ article/​ us-​health-​coronavirus-​unemployment-​youth-​idUSKBN24A0LN. Mont’Alvao, Arnaldo, Mortimer, Jeylan T., and Johnson, Monica K. 2017. “The Great Recession and Youth Labor Market Outcomes in International Perspective.” In Young People’s Development and the Great Recession:  Uncertain Transitions and Precarious Futures, edited by I. Schoon and J. Bynner. London: Cambridge University Press, pp 52–​74. Settersten, Richard and Ray, Barbara E. 2010. Not Quite Adults. Why 20-​Somethings Are Choosing a Slower Path to Adulthood and Why It’s Good for Everyone. New York: Bantam Books. Settersten, Richard, Bernardi, Laura, Harkonen, Juho et al. 2020. “Understanding the Effects of COVID-​19 Through a Life Course Lens.” Current Perspectives on Aging and the Life Cycle, 45. https://​ doi.org/​10.1016/​j.alcr.2020.100360. Stevenson, Alexandra and Bradsher, Keith. 2020. “China’s Young Struggle for Jobs in the Post-​Outbreak Era.” New York Times, May 26. Retrieved July 10, 2020. Available at www.nytimes.com/​2020/​ 05/​26/​business/​china-​coronavirus-​economy-​jobs.html.

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Vegas, Emiliana. 2020. School Closures, Government Responses, and Learning Inequality Around the World during COVID-​ 19. Washington, DC:  The Brookings Institution. Retrieved July 5, 2020. Available at www.brookings.edu/​research/​school-​closures-​ government-​responses-​and-​learning-​inequality-​around-​the-​world-​ during-​covid-​19. Yeung, Wei-​Jun and Yi, Yang. 2020. “Labor Market Uncertainties for Youth and Young Adults: An International Perspective.” Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, 688: 7–​19.

About the Authors

Arnaldo Mont’Alvao is Senior Research Analyst at Iowa State University. His research interests include educational inequalities, transition to adulthood, and racial discrimination. His recent publications appear in the Annals of the American Academy of Political and Social Sciences, Social Forces, and The Encyclopedia of Child and Adolescent Development. Pamela Aronson is Professor of Sociology at the University of Michigan-​ Dearborn. Her research has examined how social structures (including gender, race and class inequalities, and collapsing institutions during recent recessions) impact identities and the life course. She has considered gender differences in the experience of postsecondary education, young women’s transition to adulthood, work and family orientations, and attitudes toward feminism. She has published articles in journals including Social Forces, Gender & Society, Journal of Cultural Analysis and Social Change, and Critical Sociology. She is currently writing a manuscript titled Gender Revolution:  How Politics and #MeToo are Reshaping Everyday Life. Jeylan Mortimer is Professor of Sociology at the University of Minnesota. Her current research examines recent historical shifts in “the American Dream,” multigenerational influences on attainment, and intergenerational reciprocity. Mortimer co-​edited the Handbook of the Life Course, Volumes I (2003) and II (2016). Her recently published articles appear in Social Forces (with co-​ authors Arnaldo Mont’Alvao and Pamela Aronson), Social Science Research, and Work and Occupations.

3 Disability Rights and Healthcare Rationing during COVID-​19 Bradley W. Williams The Problem

Austerity policies existed as part of neoliberal and conservative governance decades before the spread of COVID-​19, though in 2019 and 2020 healthcare rationing has become a central focus for austerity across the world. Governments in countries such as the United States and United Kingdom have increased reduction on tax spending for healthcare leading to rationing within hospitals where nurses and other health professionals work fewer hours with fewer staff working at the same time, reduced resources such as personal protective equipment (PPE), medications, and ventilators. Rationing also reduces the kinds of treatments available to patients. For example, early positive statements about the use of Hydroxychloroquine, a drug for treating Lupus, in treating COVID-​19, has made it difficult for Lupus patients to access the treatment. In the US, neoliberal policies rolling back the Obama-​era’s universal health insurance program leave many people without money for healthcare. The inability to self-​ fund healthcare costs has also increased the movement of disabled people from community-​based living to living in private care facilities, the owners of which are financial contributors to senators and other political appointees. Everywhere healthcare systems are implementing a triage model of care, where disabled people and others deemed too costly to treat are denied even basic healthcare to the extent of violating their civil and human rights. In the US state of Alabama, for instance, people with intellectual disabilities are barred from access to ventilators because of 27

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policies segregating people according to disability. This triage model establishes a hierarchy of disability not recognized in any disability rights legislation. The US stands out as having comparatively higher numbers of COVID-​ 19 cases while continuing austerity policies toward healthcare resources and having strong national disability rights legislation. While the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990, Section 504 of the Rehabilitation Act of 1973, and Section 1557 of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act together prohibit healthcare providers from discriminating against qualified individuals with preexisting disabilities, disability rights advocates note that state lawmakers working with limited federal aid are the ones that ultimately decide how to allocate funds. Thus, while medical triage is now standard for healthcare providers, they are responding to pressures from federal, state, and local lawmakers. The 2006 Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD) established a global standard for implementing rights-​ based policies, monitoring government progress, and reporting violators of rights. The US, formerly a trendsetter in international law, has not signed the convention and ignores its standards where they overlap or contradict decades-​old civil rights laws. While not every country has suffered as badly from the pandemic as the US, the growth of conservative governments across the Americas, Europe, and elsewhere in the Global North is an indicator of a broader culture of austerity. Disability rights and human rights advocates have described increased cases of abuse toward disabled people all over the world that defy and contradict international human rights laws and the constitutional responsibilities of states. Rights activists assert that the triage system used by governments around the world not only defies civil rights legislation, but also obfuscates the fault of governments. Disability rights organizations such as International Disability Alliance are also critical of the response by government agencies. The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) guidelines do not mention disability rights at all, preferring instead to give guidance about personal care and responsibility. Speaking directly to governments and healthcare providers, the World Health Organization (WHO)

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consistently criticizes the use of discriminatory triage, linking the lack of resources in prosperous countries to bad governance and the powerlessness of healthcare providers to increase supplies.

Research Evidence

According to the World Bank Disability Inclusion Report, about 15 percent of the world’s population, or over one billion people, experience some form of disability. While most governments maintain that they are following national and international disability rights laws, international institutions and disability rights organizations report government violations all over the world and provide information persuading healthcare facilitators to follow civil and human rights related to disability. In the United States, the CDC, the US Department of Health and Human Services, and the Federal Emergency Management System (FEMA) have provided guidelines for ensuring disability rights, although the government has consistently contradicted these mandates largely based on inaccurate information and political leveraging. The economic depression occurring since 2008 encouraged many countries, including the US, the UK, and many in the Global South, among others, to implement austerity measures to reduce government debt and relax the strain on national monetary institutions. Across these countries the new standards are a reduction of available healthcare and a new justification for establishing hierarchies in healthcare availability based on cost-​efficiency. Disability News Service, launched in 2009, states that a UK Office for National Statistics (ONS) report showed a dramatic increase in deaths of disabled people. The report states that during the UK’s relaxation of protections for disabled people: The new figures show that younger disabled males (those “limited a lot” in daily life and aged between nine and 64) were 6.5 times more likely to have died due to COVID-​19 than non-​disabled males, while disabled females between nine and 64 were even more at risk, with a rate of death

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11.3 times higher than non-​disabled females in the same age group. For older people, the rates were 2.4 for men aged 65 and over and 3.2 for women. The figures also show that about 22,500 disabled people of all ages died due to COVID-​19 between 2 March and 15 May, compared with about 15,500 non-​ disabled people. Among those aged between nine and 64, there were about 1,600 deaths of disabled people (including both those “limited a lot” and those “limited a little”), compared with about 2,100 non-​ disabled people.

Institutional discrimination exists for every disabled person. Yet exclusions from job markets and healthcare are two factors that currently lead to higher death rates among disabled people. According to a two-​ state study of COVID-​ 19, people with preexisting intellectual and cognitive disabilities in Pennsylvania and New York are four times more likely than other citizens to contract COVID-​19 and subsequently two times more likely to die from the disease. Scott Landes, an associate professor of sociology at Syracuse University’s Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs and a co-​ author of the study, stated in an interview with National Public Radio (NPR) that: [T]here are two reasons for the high death rates. People with developmental disabilities are far more likely to have a preexisting health condition, such as respiratory disease, that adds to their risk. They are much more likely, than even elderly people, to live in a setting with roommates and staff like group homes where two or four or 10 or more people live together. About 13% to 20% of people with developmental disabilities live in such settings, compared with only about 6% of people over age 65.

People with intellectual and developmental disabilities tend to face greater risk of forced or coerced institutionalization and tend to be forgotten when compared with people with physical and visible disabilities. Researchers have yet to fully understand this disparity or its exacerbation by the pandemic.

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The pandemic has also made it harder for disabled people to find caregivers. While caregiver shortages occur within institutionalized care facilities, it is even more difficult to secure caregivers for home care. Even before the pandemic, caregivers were often underpaid and working multiple jobs. Often caregivers are undocumented laborers with some nursing background or nursing students gaining experience while paying for school. The risk of contracting COVID-​19 has forced many prospective caregivers to work other higher-​ paying, safer jobs from home. Caregivers do not want to risk higher chances of contracting or transmitting COVID-​19 to their patients. Many countries in the Global South also design their social systems, including healthcare, with the primary goal of cost-​efficiency and the ability to generate profits. This is problematic because, as the UN reports, approximately 80 percent of disabled people live in the Global South. Chile was an early adopter of neoliberal policies with direct oversight by countries in the Global North. Chile has since seen its quality and access to healthcare deteriorate. Greece is a more recent adopter of the neoliberal healthcare system model and has also achieved high levels of inequality disproportionately targeting vulnerable populations including disabled people. Global poverty has disproportionately affected countries in the Global South and disabled people tend to live in the harshest conditions within these countries. The International Disability Alliance interviewed a Pakistani man named Fahad, who stated that he has always had difficulty finding work as a physically disabled man. Fahad now finds it nearly impossible to find personal care attendants due to the pandemic and subsequent household lockdown. This is common all over the world, yet it is most common where disabled people are excluded from the job market. The pandemic has presented many governments with the opportunity to enact extreme measures aimed at the downsizing of the labor force.

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Recommendations to Protect Disability Rights General Principles

Solutions for preserving disability rights during the pandemic will require a further investment by governments in CRPD throughout the entire process including signing and ratifying CRPD and its Optional Protocol, local implementation, assisting in monitoring, and prosecuting rights violations. Furthermore, governments must encourage and monitor the respect for the disabled within their national health systems. All governments, especially powerful countries that form the core of the UN, should also encourage greater participation by disabled people in crafting legislation that directly and indirectly affects their lives, which is a revolutionary aspect of CRPD. While many countries in the Global South follow the lead of the Global North in signing onto important international human rights agreements, many have also found it difficult to implement international norms into national and local policies or are unwilling to connect further with the UN system. Some factors cited include differential cultural and legal definitions of disability, the lack of economic support from the Global North and higher rates of economic inequality in the Global South, and a lack of adequate governance structures that can translate international legal norms through developing legal systems including mechanisms for reporting rights violations, and courts with little to no experience in prosecuting rights violations. Most solutions presented here address actions for governments because they are the major sources for violations of disability rights right now. For the UN



• Encourage greater participation by governments in the Global South in developing disability policy and shaping further developments with CRPD. In its first World Report on Disability published in 2011 (in conjunction with the World Bank), the UN showed a great interest in building a global disability rights network. Disability

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rights conventions tend to exclude what Boaventura de Sousa Santos called “epistemologies of the South.” • Additionally, efforts to embed disability rights into international development through the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) should not contradictorily embed a neoliberal logic into international disability rights. Governments in the Global South are wary of rights-​ based arguments that justify the intrusion of transnational corporations which primarily benefit the Global North and exploit their countries. For Governments Immediate Measures

• Closely monitor the spread of COVID-​ 19 in communities and release data and information on the number of infections and fatalities and alert health institutions regularly of changing safety protocols. This will involve a greater centralization of information at the national level. Here, the US is often used as an example of conflicting information between the executive government, governmental agencies, and medical professionals. Also consider providing a hotline for disability services including the ability to communicate with governments and raise concerns. According to WHO, information should include captioning for speech and images and sign language and the braille format for documents. Documents should also avoid jargon that is harder to understand for people with intellectual disabilities. • Ensure full access to healthcare on an equal basis with other citizens and provide immediate access to food, PPE, and social distancing measures for all citizens, while prioritizing disabled and other vulnerable populations. Consider short-​ term financial support for disability services to ensure they remain financially sustainable if they experience a downturn in their operations. • Ensure that disabled people have opportunities to weather the pandemic while remaining in their own

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communities rather than impose institutionalization on vulnerable populations. Private institutions like prisons maintain high populations of disabled people who have little autonomy over their own wellbeing and have comparatively less access to public sources of information about COVID-​19 or resources to avoid it. • Prioritize disability caregiver agencies for access to no-​ cost personal protective equipment, including masks, aprons, gloves, and hand sanitizers. Caregivers are a vital resource and often companionship for disabled people. They also need to be recognized as essential workers, particularly during the pandemic. Therefore, governments should ensure that caregivers of people with disability have access to COVID-​ 19 testing alongside other identified priority groups. WHO recommends that governments should also ensure that agencies providing disability caregivers have continuity plans for situations in which the number of available caregivers may be reduced. • Prioritize disability inclusion in the workforce. This means providing flexible options to work from home. Governments should also secure funding for the necessary technology to do so. Additionally, provide tax relief and lump sum payments for disabled workers. Again, this means working with disabled persons organizations (DPOs) to identify the best course of action for financial remuneration and relief. Longer-​Term Measures



• Introduce elements of CRPD and reemphasize existing compatible elements within national statements on disability and civil rights. CRPD, Article 33 states that governments should appoint persons to aid in the development of implementation mechanisms and consider establishing a centralized point person to facilitate CRPD networking within the nation. Governments should also establish independent mechanisms to promote, protect, and monitor CRPD progress. DPOs including disability rights organizations should be directly involved in monitoring violations

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of CRPD. Actively involve persons with disabilities, their representative organizations, and civil society in planning the recovery process, and emergency deinstitutionalization plans.  • Implement immediate measures to ensure that residents can contact law enforcement through institutionalized complaints mechanisms. Encourage prosecution of rights abuses by institutionalizing the powers enumerated in Articles 12 and 13 of CRPD and its Optional Protocol within national policies related to disability rights. The Optional Protocol established a reporting mechanism for individuals and groups similar to the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women, and the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination. But this Protocol also accepts individual rights on economic, social, and cultural rights like the Optional Protocol to the International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights. For Disability Rights Organizations

• Provide access to important information about the rights of disabled people during COVID-​ 19 that address existing problems related to austerity including employment, healthcare benefits, and general access to hospitals. Guidelines should be written in formats accessible to people with intellectual and developmental disabilities and in ways accessible to the deaf and blind. • Follow the lead of organizations such as the National Disability Rights Network and work with legal professionals experienced in civil and human rights law to compel governments to comply with international and constitutional rights norms. The International Disability Alliance’s Disability Rights Monitor is a good model of centralizing data on violations and methods for activism.

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Healthcare rationing based on the utilitarian notion of serving everyone equally has been used to justify extensive violations of disability rights. International disability rights norms and those rights enumerated in constitutions and other national disability legislation have yet to counteract long-​ standing neoliberal cultures and the tendency to apply austerity policies in times of crisis, particularly when austerity in healthcare and other social welfare areas of society has become commonplace. Disabled people are the only population whose rights seem to be defined by their capacity to remain cost-​effective even when this undermines their rights. The COVID-​19 pandemic did not create austerity, but it does give it new justification and mechanisms to subvert responsibility for abusing disability rights. While many governments implement rationing, this does not make the process irreversible. Even in the US and Britain, disability rights activists are working hard to preserve civil society and their place in it through lobbying and protests. As disability rights become more commonplace in national policy agendas, the demands of activists resonate with a greater proportion of the population as seen in the successes of civil and human rights movements.

Key Resources Belt, Rabia, Malave, Celina, and Strassle, Camila. 2020. “Disability and Health in the Age of Triage.” Harvard Law Review. Available at https://​ blog.harvardlawreview.org/​ disability-​and-​health-​in-​the-​age-​of-​triage. Benstead, Stef. 2019. Second Class Citizens: The Treatment of Disabled People in Austerity Britain. Sheffield: The Centre for Welfare Reform. Boyle, Coleen A., Fox, Michael H., Havercamp, Susan M., and Zubler, Jennifer. 2020. “The Public Health Response to COVID-​19 Pandemic for People with Disabilities.” Disability Health Journal, 13(3). Published online May 24, 2020. doi: 10.1016/​j.dhjo.2020.100943. Center for Public Representation, The Arc, and Communication First. 2020. “Federal Civil Rights Resolution Makes Clear Hospital Visitor Policies Nationwide Must Accommodate Patients with Disabilities During COVID-​ 19 Pandemic.” Available at www.centerforpublicrep.org/​wp -​content/​uploads/​FINAL-​DisabilityGroup-​Press-​ Release-​on-​CT-​OCR-​Resolution-​060920.pdf. Ervin, Mike. 2020. “Shut Down the Death Traps: COVID-​19 is Setting People with Disabilities Back –​More Than They Already Were.” The Progressive. Available at https://​ progressive.org/​ magazine/​

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shut-​down-​the-d ​ eath-​traps-​ervin-​200604/?​ fbclid=IwAR1n1EryrUKOIx9l7hLxfi9no6VjhqCK2VYlFQhT2vvkmGTpAdmbnYI0vI#. Xt8GV8_​2Gus.facebook. Human Rights Watch. 2020. “Protect Rights of People with Disabilities During COVID-​19: Ensure Access to Information, Essential Services for Those Most at Risk.” Available at www.hrw.org/​news/​2020/​ 03/​26/​protect-​rights-​people-​disabilities-​during-​covid-​19#. Iriarte, Edurne García, McConkey, Roy, and Gilligan, Robbie. 2016. Disability and Human Rights:  Global Perspectives. New York: Palgrave. Kakoullis, Emily Julia and Johnson, Kelley, eds. 2020. Recognising Human Rights in Different Cultural Contexts: The United Nations Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD). London: Palgrave. Mello, Michelle M., Persad, Govind, and White, Douglas B. 2020. “Respecting Disability Rights: Toward Improved Crisis Standards of Care.” New England Journal of Medicine, 385(5): e26(1–​4). Mohar, Yariv. 2020. “Sharing Stories of Struggles: Human Rights amid COVID-​19.” Interface: A Journal for and about Social Movements, 12(1): 367–​370. Ryan, Frances. 2019. Crippled:  Austerity and the Demonization of Disabled People. London: Verso. Sakellariou, Dikaios and Rotarou, Elena S. 2017. “The Effects of Neoliberal Policies on Access to Healthcare for People with Disabilities.” International Journal for Equity in Health, 16: 199. Sins Invalid. 2020. “Social Distancing and Crip Survival:  A Disability Centered Response to Covid-​ 19.” Available at www. sinsinvalid.org/​news-​1/​2020/​3 /​19/​social -​distancing-​and -​crip-​survival-​a-​disability-​centered-​response-​to-​covid-​19. Soldatic, Karen. 2019. “Surplusisity: Neoliberalism and Disability and Precarity.” In The Palgrave Handbook of Disability and Citizenship in the Global South, edited by B. Watermeyer, J. McKenzie, and L. Swartz. London: Palgrave, pp 13–​26. Solomon, Mildred Z., Wynia, Matthew K., and Gostin, Lawrence O. 2020. “Covid-​19 Crisis Triage: Optimizing Health Outcomes and Disability Rights”. New England Journal of Medicine, May 19. Stewart, Mo. 2019. “The Impact of Neoliberal Politics on the Welfare and Survival of Chronically Ill and Disabled People.” In The Routledge Handbook of Disability Activism, edited by M. Berghs, T. Chataika, Y. El-​Lahib, and K. Dube. London: Routledge, pp 41–​56.

About the Author

Bradley W. Williams ([email protected]) is a PhD student in the Public Sociology program at George Mason University studying social movements, disability rights, and transnational governance. He has worked as an academic editor, qualitative

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data analyst, and archivist. He is currently writing a dissertation on American disability protest organizations.

4 Social-​Distancing the Settler-​State Indigenous Peoples in the Age of COVID-​19 Theresa Rocha Beardall The Problem

The global spread of COVID-​ 19 is quickly exacerbating existing racial and economic disparities, and in its wake, revealing the spatial dynamics of health and interlocking social inequalities that burden marginalized communities. Among Indigenous Peoples, increased risk of exposure is linked to the enduring settler-​colonial logics of Indigenous elimination and present-​ day mistreatment of tribal communities by settler-​states that occupy their lands. Specifically, Indigenous communities face social problems such as access to quality, affordable healthcare, sustainable public infrastructure, opportunities for economic self-​sufficiency, nutritious food, and clean water. Relatedly, Indigenous cultures and languages are often stigmatized and othered, which may dissuade some Indigenous Peoples from seeking out medical and social services when in need. Indigenous Peoples are collectively identified as those communities that lived on and cared for a particular land base before the arrival of foreign settlers, inhabitants that routinely threatened Indigenous communities with death, disease, and destruction. Despite those efforts, there are upwards of 400–​500 million Indigenous Peoples living around the world today. These communities nourish distinct languages, cultural perspectives, legal systems, and actively resist threats to their knowledge systems from settler societies. In 2020, COVID-​19 amplified these threats across the globe. In the Americas, for example, 40 percent of Indigenous Peoples do not have access 39

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to conventional healthcare (Cevallos and Amores, 2009) and 73 percent of Canada’s First Nations’ water systems are at risk of contamination (Council of Canadians, 2020). Recent reports from Brazil show that predatory resource extraction (timber, water, mining) in Indigenous territories persists during the pandemic, compounding local risk of exposure. Ongoing, comprehensive, and disaggregated data on the rate and effects of COVID-​19 infections are urgently needed to combat these ongoing threats. Universal solutions to protect and support Indigenous communities, however, cannot be fully realized without sufficient attention to the social and historical context of settler colonialism. In many cases, current evidence suggests that Indigenous Peoples, and the future safety of tribal communities, may be best served by maintaining social and physical distance from the settler-​state.

Research Evidence

The COVID-​19 pandemic has heightened social, economic, and political threats against Indigenous Peoples. First, Indigenous Peoples face significant obstacles when exercising their inherent tribal sovereignty to protect the health, welfare, and safety of tribal members and lands. Second, access to quality, affordable healthcare is urgently needed to protect Indigenous Peoples from COVID-​19. Third, the current pandemic has exacerbated unemployment, precarious employment, food insecurity, and poverty. As demonstrated by the intent and commitment of the United Nations’ Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) in 2007, these perilous circumstances have not gone unnoticed and many international voices support increased measures to protect Indigenous Peoples. Tribal Sovereignty and Borders

There is growing sentiment around the world that affirmative changes in nation-​to-​nation relations will positively impact Indigenous Peoples’ fight against COVID-​19. Unfortunately, several settler-​states, including Brazil, have resisted negotiating

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with tribal nations. The Brazil Amazon is home to nearly 900,000 of Brazil’s Indigenous population (representing hundreds of tribal nations) who, despite living in isolation from the country’s general population, are at an increased risk of infection due to repeated land rights violations by foreigners. Experts estimate, for example, that as many as 40 percent of the Yanomami population could contract COVID-​ 19, pushing this community knowingly toward extinction. In July 2020, Brazilian President Jair Bolsonaro struck down emergency aid to protect the nation’s Indigenous communities. Fearing ethnocide, Brazilian courts intervened and ordered the government to create a crisis response team, provide healthcare to Indigenous Peoples, establish checkpoints around Indigenous lands to prohibit foreign trespassing, and test authorized outsiders for COVID-​19. The health and immediate safety of Indigenous Peoples around the globe require that settler-​states take a proactive approach to ensuring that tribal borders are protected and respected. Quality, Affordable Healthcare

Indigenous community life revolves around shared values, responsibilities, and gatherings for social and ceremonial purposes, which unfortunately provides an opportunity for the quick spread of COVID-​19. Communal living arrangements and frequent intergenerational contact are also common, making it difficult to exercise physical distance. Close contact is especially dangerous for vulnerable populations such as elders who maintain language, traditions, and community knowledge systems. Additionally, many communities, including those in the US, lack the public infrastructure needed to successfully protect themselves from COVID-​19. In May 2020, for example, the Navajo Nation reached out and invited Doctors Without Borders, an organization that typically deals with international medical crises, to help control the spread of COVID-​19. The Navajo Nation lacked the healthcare facilities and staff needed to accommodate the afflicted; most critical patients were airlifted to hospitals outside the reservation. Despite the abundant wealth and resources of the US, nearly half of all Diné (Navajo) live

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in poverty, one-​third of reservation residents lack access to running water, and many families also lack access to diverse, nutritious food. A lack of adequate resources locally requires tribal members to travel for food, prevents them from quarantining, and increases risk of COVID-​19 contact with outsiders. Settler-​states must work cooperatively with tribal communities to establish permanent healthcare solutions. Economic Solutions

Global economic predictions suggest that all industries will continue to experience economic downturn post-​pandemic, resulting in increased unemployment and precarious employment among Indigenous populations. Limited local work jeopardizes stable housing, food, warmth, and safety. A lack of permanent work causes some Indigenous Peoples to travel back and forth between cities and rural homelands, placing Indigenous communities at increased risk of exposure to COVID-​ 19 as is the case for many workers traveling between Lima, Peru and the highlands. Economic instability will have grave spillover effects on the health and wellbeing of Indigenous families in the months and years that follow the pandemic, causing increased need for mental health services, protection from abusive relationships, and high-​ skilled educational training opportunities. Unfortunately, COVID-​ 19 aggravated highly segregated job markets and economic disparities, as seen in the case of New Zealand, where Māori workers are highly concentrated in vulnerable professions including food services, construction, manufacturing, and retail services. Such professions are known to implement immediate cuts to their workforce in moments of economic downturn. Economic stability is critical to the health and safety of all Indigenous Peoples.

Recommendations and Solutions

Responses to the spread of COVID-​19 must support the tribal sovereignty of Indigenous Peoples, implement quality, affordable healthcare, and prioritize immediate cash payments

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and future employment opportunities to tribal communities struggling under pandemic conditions. These concrete solutions are based on a survey of current efforts involving Indigenous communities in Australia, Brazil, Canada, New Zealand, and the United States. I draw examples from around the globe to emphasize the need for an international commitment to protect Indigenous Peoples from the continued ravages of COVID-​19. Tribal Sovereignty and Borders

In contrast to Bolsonaro’s actions in Brazil, Indigenous nations elsewhere in the world have had some success exercising control over their borders. Borrowing from real-​ time policy lessons, I suggest the following opportunities: • Settler-​states must respect tribal sovereignty by honoring the decision-​making of tribal communities and tribal borders. To begin, settler-​states need to establish checkpoints near Indigenous territories to prohibit unauthorized entrance. Doing so recognizes Indigenous tribes around the globe who are exercising their sovereignty by proactively closing borders to tourists, implementing lockdowns, curfews, check points, and mandatory face masks on tribal lands to prevent the spread of the virus. One effective policy example involves First Nations in British Columbia, Canada who closed borders and implemented checkpoints in response to politicians who promoted travel to remote Canadian locations. The Ahousaht First Nation raised awareness about the vulnerability of tribal nations in these remote locations. They also worked with the settler-​state to keep desirable tourist attractions and natural hot springs on their territory closed until a vaccine for COVID-​19 is found (Wells, 2020). The necessary and non-​negotiable policy of respecting tribal borders is effective because it allows First Nations to protect the health and safety of tribal members and physically distance themselves from the settler-​state.

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• Unnecessary travel to Indigenous communities must be limited in order to prevent the spread of the virus. Generally, settler-​states can take all efforts to alert the public that travel to Indigenous communities is not permitted unless otherwise stated by tribal government officials. These alerts should include national media, informational websites, road signs, and closure of air and water tourism travel. In the event this is not possible, all persons must be tested for COVID-​19 prior to entering tribal territory and observe strict quarantine protocol when traveling on or near Indigenous homelands. One example where limited travel has been effective is in British Columbia, Canada where the Tla-​o-​qui-​aht in Tofino educated non-​residents about the threat of the virus against their elders and remote community members (Wells, 2020). First Nations persuaded non-​ residents to travel elsewhere in order to ensure limited egress of people into the territory. Tribes effectively limit the exposure of the virus to Indigenous Peoples by exercising this “people before economy” approach to pandemic management. • Settler-​ states must cooperate and collaborate with First Nations to implement national reopening plans. Ongoing negotiation must involve a series of coordinated, accessible consultation sessions that solicit current and future Indigenous needs. Settler-​ states must integrate those needs into protective policies, including necessary renegotiation about effectiveness, when developing plans to reopen locations on or near Indigenous land despite the possibility of reduced tourist revenue. In Haida Gwaii, Canada, for example, the Haida effectively and successfully negotiated with local fishing businesses to change their reopening plans and turn away non-​ residents arriving by ferry amid significant pushback from businesses who depend on tourism dollars (Wells, 2020). Unfortunately, without the Canadian government’s intentional collaboration with First Nations, many partnerships have dissolved, opening fishing lodges in the midst of an international state of emergency. Collaborative reopening plans

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ensure that decisions about Indigenous territory are made by the tribes that reside there, protecting them from unnecessary exposure to COVID-​19. Quality, Affordable Healthcare

The COVID-​19 pandemic has increased attention to the role of disease as a longstanding tool of Indigenous genocide. As a result, tribal nations lack confidence in the intentions of surrounding settler-​ states. Several actions can be taken toward repairing this trust: • Settler-​ states must work with urban and rural tribal communities to immediately install a quality, permanent healthcare infrastructure that includes tailored services for high-​risk populations including Indigenous elders. Health infrastructures must train and employ local community healthcare workers, provide space for communities to balance and practice traditional methods of care, and provide the resources necessary to maintain substantive community health services. Infrastructure must also fund accessible and well-​ supplied nursing homes for elders staffed with culturally competent healthcare workers trained in Indigenous languages. While a model policy has yet to emerge, the New Zealand government provided the Whānau Ora Programme with NZ$136 million toward Māori and Pasifika family services as a preview of the desired infrastructure. These funds aid Whānau Ora and partner organizations in caring for communities affected by COVID-​19. Investments in Indigenous lives and human resources means continued access to local healthcare providers and services. This approach is effective because it centers Indigenous autonomy over present and future healthcare and ensures that communities are prepared with networked health systems to respond immediately in future crises. • Settler-​ states must offer immediate and ongoing COVID-​19 testing for Indigenous Peoples and authorized visitors to Indigenous communities. Testing sites (mobile and stationary) must administer rapid, mandatory

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testing and supply communities with home hygiene kits, cloth masks, and health education materials. Settler-​ states must provide medical supplies and personnel to accomplish this critical task immediately. Australia is an effective example of COVID-​19 testing, addressing high risk among Indigenous Peoples while ensuring that Aboriginal communities have the health services they need. The nation partnered with global health agencies and universities to provide COVID-​19 tests that yield results in just 45 minutes (opposed to the usual 10 days) in over 80 remote Indigenous communities (Mercer, 2020). Rapid-​ results testing is effective at reducing the spread of the disease and connecting patients with aboriginal health services (Mercer, 2020), especially among rural communities who are at greater risk of infection. • Settler-​ states must coordinate with Indigenous leaders to implement an immediate public health education campaign accessible to Indigenous language speakers. Campaigns must coordinate with Indigenous leaders to deliver culturally sensitive training on preventing virus transmission in households, community centers, health facilities, alternative care facilities, and isolation centers. One effective campaign is a partnership between the Navajo Nation and Doctors Without Borders who delivered public health information and personal protective equipment to tribal members, sometimes going door-​to-​door ensuring that hard-​to-​reach populations were not forgotten. Culturally sensitive public health campaign partnerships limit the spread of COVID-​19 within vulnerable communities by “meeting communities where they’re at” and addressing the unique needs of the populations they serve. • Access to safe, clean, and consistently available drinking water is a basic human right and must be provided to Indigenous communities immediately. During the COVID-​ 19 pandemic, settler-​ states can enact moratoriums on water shutoffs for all citizens and implement a federal framework to create a future water infrastructure that prioritizes the needs of Indigenous

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Peoples and vulnerable populations. At least 90 US cities and several Canadian municipalities have effectively implemented immediate access to water by temporarily suspending water shutoffs in response to COVID-​19. One of the best ways to prevent the spread of COVID-​19 is by washing hands and keeping surfaces clean, actions that are nearly impossible for communities without running water. Ensuring public access to clean water prevents the spread of COVID-​19 and other communicable diseases long-​term. Economic Solutions

In the US the CARES Act allocated $8 billion to tribes meant to be paid by late April 2020, however most tribes went months without payment, only receiving funds after multiple requests and several lawsuits. Erasure of tribal nations’ needs exacerbate historical, intergenerational trauma resulting from centuries of abuse, racism, and marginalization. Drawing from recent efforts to combat these inequities, I offer the following solutions: • Create and fund pathways to secure current and future employment. Many Indigenous Peoples lack sustainable employment, are out of work, had their hours reduced, live with at-​risk family members, and are in dire need of money to support themselves and their families. Rather than returning to a pre-​COVID status quo of social and economic inequality, settler-​states can better situate Indigenous Peoples in their efforts to retain jobs and high-​skilled training tailored to future staffing needs. One example of an effective employment policy is in New Zealand where the government promoted Indigenous employment in insulated occupations such as education and healthcare. New Zealand also allocated NZ$50 million for a Māori trades training fund and NZ$200 million to create jobs and increase youth employment (Kukutai et al, 2020). Funded pathways to secure employment effectively match a highly trained

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Indigenous workforce with future vacancies in secure occupations. • Settler-​states must provide immediate cash payments to Indigenous persons and communities. Cash assistance generally involves direct distribution of cash payments. During COVID-​19, cash grants must also be sent to communities, allowing tribal leadership discretion over the disbursement of funds. Some communities may opt for additional cash payments for elderly and vulnerable members, while other more remote communities may first address food and water insecurity. Canada provides an effective example of direct cash payments to benefit the health, welfare, and safety of Indigenous Peoples during the pandemic. In March 2020, Canada created a $380 million Indigenous Community Support Fund to support First Nation elders and vulnerable community members, address food insecurity, education, mental health and emergency response services (Government of Canada, 2020). The Canadian government also allocated a base amount of $50,000 to every self-​ governing First Nation with additional funding based on community population and remoteness. Cash payments are effective because they can be used to pay rent, healthcare bills, personal protective equipment, sanitation products, food, and prevent transmission of the virus to at-​ risk family members by essential workers. Cash payments are immediate, under the direct autonomy of the recipient, and in the case of Indigenous communities, may be the only immediate solution to reduce exposure to the virus. • Emerging social services must address the connection between COVID-​19’s economic fallout and its impacts on Indigenous mental health. Settler-​ states must first publicly acknowledge that recent spikes in anxiety, depression, and suicide are all connected to the economic precarity and social isolation associated with the current pandemic. Next, mental and physical health services must be funded and implemented in local social services offices in the months and years that follow the pandemic. One effective example of a

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settler-​state addressing this mental health link is Canada where the government has allocated $44.8 million to build 12 shelters for Indigenous women and girls who are escaping violence, and $40.8 million to fund their operations. Having these services in place is vital because social isolation and economic need associated with COVID-​19 has forced some women and children to shelter in place with their abusers, compounding the conditions for violence against Indigenous women. The continued violence of settler colonialism threatened the health and safety of Indigenous Peoples around the world prior to the pandemic, raising awareness that the safety of tribal communities may be best served by maintaining social and physical distance from the settler-​ state. COVID-​ 19 exacerbated the deep social and economic disparities caused by the settler-​state. Earlier, I charted evidence and solutions to address COVID-​19 issues concerning tribal borders and sovereignty, quality healthcare, and economic solutions such as cash payments. As settler-​ states implement responsible solutions to address the fallout from COVID-​19, I stress the need to center Indigenous Peoples, traditional knowledge systems, and community desires for an Indigenous future. As social scientists, we must demand ongoing, comprehensive, and disaggregated data collection on the rate and effects of COVID-​ 19 infections as well as disaggregated data more broadly concerning contemporary social and economic inequalities affecting Indigenous Peoples living in both urban and rural spaces. We must not, however, wait for sufficient data to respond immediately to the devastation of these inequalities. In closing, I offer my gratitude to the ancestors and the resilient Indigenous Peoples around the world that nurture tribal knowledge, culture, and languages in preparation for the seven generations to come.

Key Resources Cevallos, Rodrigo and Alfredo Amores. 2009. Health Services Delivery in Areas Inhabited by Indigenous Peoples. Washington, DC: Panamerican

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Health Organization. Retrieved July 20, 2020. Available at www. paho.org/​hq/​dmdocuments/​2009/​serviciosSaludEng.pdf. Council of Canadians. 2020. “Safe Water for First Nations.” Retrieved July 20, 2020. Available at https://​canadians.org/​fn-​water. Government of Canada. 2020. “Canada’s COVID-​ 19 Economic Response Plan.” Retrieved July 20, 2020. Available at www.canada. ca/​en/​department-​finance/​economic-​response-​plan.html. Kukutai, Tahu, Barnes, Helen Moewaka, McCreanor, Tim, and Mcintosh, Tracey. 2020. “Recession Hits Māori and Pasifika Harder: They Must be Part of Planning New Zealand’s COVID-​19 recovery.” The Conversation, May 19. Retrieved July 20, 2020. Available at https://​theconversation.com/​recession-​hits-​maori-​ and-​pasifika-​harder-​they-​must-​be-​part-​of-​planning-​new-​zealands-​ covid-​19-​recovery-​137763. Mercer, Phil. 2020. “45-​Minute COVID-​19 Tests Aid Remote Australian Aboriginal Communities.” VOA, April 17. Retrieved July 20, 2020. Available at www.voanews.com/​covid-​19-​pandemic/​45-​minute-​ covid-​19-​tests-​aid-​remote-​australian-​aboriginal-​communities. United Nations. 2020. “COVID-​ 19 and Indigenous Peoples.” Retrieved July 20, 2020. Available at www.un.org/​development/​ desa/​indigenouspeoples/​covid-​19.html. Wells, Nick. 2020. “First Nations in B.C. Stay Firm on Stance to Seal off Communities from Tourists.” The Canadian Press, July 13. Retrieved July 20, 2020. Available at www.cbc.ca/​ news/​ canada/​ british-​ columbia/​first-​nations-​bc-​close-​borders-​covid-​19-​1.5647337. Zoledziowski, Anya. 2020. “Governments Worldwide Are Failing Indigenous Peoples During the Pandemic.” Vice, July 15. Retrieved July 23, 2020. Available at www.vice.com/​en_​uk/​article/​y3znqb/​ governments-​worldwide-​are-​failing-​indigenous-​peoples-​during-​the-​ covid-​pandemic.

About the Author

Theresa Rocha Beardall, JD, PhD (Oneida/​ Sault Ste. Marie/​ Mexican) is Assistant Professor of Sociology, Criminology, and American Indian Studies at Virginia Tech. Her scholarship examines how systems of law and agents of the state enact and enforce various modes of state violence. In one thread of this research, she studies how the legal construction of tribal sovereignty has changed over time in US courts. In the second, she studies the role of police unions, citizen review boards, and local community activism in exposing the violence of police misconduct.

5 The Pandemic and the Invisible Poor of the Global South Slum Dwellers in Mumbai, India and Dhaka, Bangladesh Nikhil Deb and Maya Rao The Problem

While the COVID-​19 pandemic continues to wreak havoc in the Global North, the worst is yet to come for the Global South, where the virus is currently spreading at a frightening speed. As of August 2020, eight of the ten countries with the most COVID-​ 19 cases are in the Global South. The Global South entered this pandemic already substantially disadvantaged, and the predicaments, injustices, and improper living conditions faced by citizens that inhabit these countries will ultimately lead to millions of deaths. Vast, sprawling urban areas of the Global South, such as in Brazil, Kenya, Nigeria, India, and Bangladesh, are already witnessing a rapid surge of the COVID-​19 cases. More than one billion people worldwide live in urban slums, settlements typically characterized as areas with a lack of basic requirements such as water, toilets, sewers, drainage, and adequate housing. Considering these factors, slum dwellers are the most vulnerable urban groups and are confronting higher challenges than the residents of megacities in the Global North. Few, however, are asking how the billion people that live in slums in the Global South might be able to survive this pandemic. While it is true that the pandemic at its core is indiscriminate and does not recognize class, caste, race, and sex, few events have exposed global public health disparities as starkly as the ongoing pandemic. We already know that 51

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the virus is disproportionality killing Black Americans in the US. Similarly, global inequalities, established at the height of colonialism and reinforced throughout the development and neoliberal eras, shift the brunt of international crises—​ climate change, malnutrition, and, today, pandemics—​away from the Global North and onto the Global South. If lessons learned from the previous epidemics had been applied in policy arenas, the devastation would have been significantly less. Previous outbreaks such as Ebola, Zika, and the swine flu have all occurred in the recent past. All of these viruses had a significant adverse impact on the slums around the world. Due to the highly inadequate responses to previous pandemics, these diseases still exist within slums to this day even though treatment and vaccines exist. In a similar vein, despite the warnings from international health organizations, slum dwellers are yet to be provided the help they need to survive this current pandemic. Given the extremely contagious nature of COVID-​ 19, excluding the slum dwellers from public-​health efforts would not reduce the risk to the entire global population. Thus, we examine the effects of COVID-​19 on slum dwellers in the Global South and propose what must be done to slow down the spread of the virus. Specifically, we focus on Mumbai, India, and Dhaka, Bangladesh, the two most densely populated cities in the world, where more than six million people live in slums. Most intensive care beds in Mumbai and Dhaka are already occupied. Experts have predicted that the pandemic situation in densely populated cities of the Global South, such as Rio de Janeiro, Nairobi, Mumbai, Dhaka, Lagos, will get worse over time. Brazil and India, for example, are now facing the largest outbreak of COVID-​19, making them the new global hotspots. Bangladesh fears the same as it records an increasing number of COVID-​19 cases every day. And the densely populated slums of India and Bangladesh are projected to bear the brunt of increasing cases. Approximately 25 percent of the world’s slum dwellers live in India, the second-​largest country in terms of population (1.3 billion). Although Bangladesh is a relatively small country geographically, with 166 million people, it is the eighth largest in the world, just behind Nigeria and ahead of

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Russia. Slums in Mumbai, India’s financial center, constitute more than 42 percent of the households; slums in Dhaka, the capital of Bangladesh, roughly constitute more than 50 percent of the houses. The compounded risks slum residents face are apparent because, in slums, it is almost impossible to enforce social distancing, a primary guard against the virus. For example, in the Dharavi slum in Mumbai, one of the largest slums in Asia, approximately 100,000 people live per square mile, and some slums in Dhaka have 2,500,000 per square mile. Besides, due to the lack of clean water and toilets, slum dwellers are unable to do life-​saving practices, such as handwashing. Additionally, slum dwellers are at higher risk of having severe preexisting health conditions that make them more vulnerable to the pandemic. New COVID-​19 cases are increasing at the fastest rate in India, which sits alongside the United States and Brazil in officially confirmed COVID-​19 cases. There have been more than 80 deaths among the 2,597 cases in Dharavi. In July 2020, the BBC reported that more than half of the slum dwellers in Mumbai tested positive for COVID-​ 19. Although Dharavi has witnessed a quick drop in cases and is praised for containing the virus, the true death count is unknown as civic bodies are no longer reporting the number of deaths in Dharavi. Similarly, although COVID-​19 cases are reported in Dhaka’s slums, where 1.5 million people inhabit, nobody knows for certain the true extent of the spread there. The reported figures, therefore, are certainly an undercount considering the meager rate of testing in both India and Bangladesh. As of August 2020, the estimated case count in Bangladesh is over 296,000 with over 4,000 deaths. Wilkinson, in a 2020 article, states that a significant challenge in slums is the lack of data during pandemics. Such scenarios, however, are not unique to India and Bangladesh—​ slum dwellers across the world, such as in Nigeria, Indonesia, South Africa, Mexico, Tanzania, Vietnam, Sudan, and Brazil, are facing dire situations in the wake of this pandemic. Unless we stop the virus from spreading to overpopulated and congested cities and areas with little healthcare infrastructure, the effects will be even more devastating.

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Research Evidence

A defining factor behind the growth of urban poverty in Asia, Latin America, and the Caribbean is the vast economic restructuring of these countries, dictated by the IMF and the World Bank. Research (see McMichael, 2016) shows that agribusiness has displaced many agrarian populations in the Global South, forcing them to migrate to cities, which, in turn, contributed to an outgrowth of slums. Despite the idealistic rhetoric that has become prominent as the neoliberal projects gathered steam, the quality of life in slums remains abysmal, while their populations continue to explode. According to UN‐Habitat, the number of people living in slums worldwide increases by 25 million each year. Among these fast-​growing slums are Mumbai’s Dharavi and Dhaka’s shantytowns. Slum dwellers of these two megacities are not only trapped in conditions that facilitate the spread of the virus but also lack access to testing and treatment as the government siphons public funding from healthcare to repay foreign debt and boost private enterprises. Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics in its 2014 report shows that large families in slums often live together in one or two rooms, and build homes stacked on top of one another. Additionally, a report prepared by the Centre for Urban Studies in Bangladesh found that pit latrines, widely regarded as unsafe, are common in slum areas in Bangladesh. Like in India and Bangladesh, the millions of Brazilians living in favelas or Kenyans living in the slums of Nairobi are subject to poor living conditions that facilitate the spread of diseases like COVID-​19 throughout the community. The Mumbai slum of Dharavi and slums in Dhaka are not strangers to disease. Epidemiologists show that illnesses, such as the 2009 swine flu, malaria, tropical influenza, and tuberculosis, remain a significant cause of death amongst Dharavi and Dhaka slum dwellers. The so-​ called obsolete diseases such as tuberculosis and malaria continue to run rampant in slum areas and cause over 800,000 deaths a year. Despite there being treatments for both diseases, access to healthcare and the conditions slum dwellers live in cause clustered deaths in these communities. The World

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Health Organization, for example, warns that malaria could compound with COVID-​19 as the monsoon season approaches India and Bangladesh, causing twice as many deaths as usual. Furthermore, as the monsoon season approaches, many laborers in Dharavi and Dhaka slums will leave the city and potentially infect others while traveling back to their hometowns. Finally, the pandemic has already devastated the life and livelihood of slum dwellers, who primarily work in the informal sector and are unable to work from home. However, the prime ministers of both Bangladesh and India provided only a woefully insufficient stipend to laid-​off workers. Slum dwellers, thus, have no choice but to live in conditions that allow the disease to spread quickly. As we discussed, most slum residents lack functional sewage systems and other utilities integral to sanitation. Thus, the vulnerability to the extremely contagious COVID-​19, which has already killed hundreds of thousands across the world, is vast in the slums of the Global South. Global pandemics require global responses—​this trite remark has never been more profound than it is now.

Recommendations and Solutions

Any threats to humanity tend to have a more significant adverse effect on underdeveloped nations and peoples stricken with poverty. The virus will spread like wildfire if it takes hold of the slums because the amount of people packed within slums is astonishing. Unless we implement policies recognizing the needs of the slum dwellers, the survival of urban populations across the world would be threatened. We propose the following recommendations and solutions to prevent the spread of the virus in the slums of the Global South. Ensure that Slum Dwellers are Educated about COVID-​19

Slum dwellers must be educated about COVID-​19. They should be educated on the ways of transmission of the virus, symptoms, and what to do if they believe they have it. An issue with the swine flu was that slum dwellers were not informed

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about the several ways that they could contract the virus. The education should be done by health workers to give up-​to-​ date information, instead of hearsay information spread by word of mouth. The health workers must go into the slums and provide this information to ensure it reaches everyone. Provide Slum Dwellers with Access to Clean Water, Soap, and Other Sanitation

WHO suggests frequent handwashing as a way to stop the spread of the virus. However, when people do not have access to water, soap, or sanitizer, they are put at a higher risk of contracting and spreading the virus. Slum dwellers often have to travel long distances to get water. But due to the lockdown measures, people are not able to leave their slums to have access to water or toilets. To mitigate some of the risks of getting the virus, people must have access to water, soap, sanitizer, and toilets. Although there are some initiatives to improve toilet and water access in slums, they must be implemented to accommodate the needs of slum dwellers. These changes include providing toilets in closer proximity to the slums and ensuring that soap and water are provided in these toilets. Additionally, these facilities must be accessible by everyone, and pay barriers must be eliminated to use these facilities. Since many are without work due to COVID-​19, the pay barrier serves as another level in inequality during the pandemic. Devise Strategies for Quarantining and Social Distancing whilst Living in Slums

One of the ways to slow the spread of COVID-​ 19 is social distancing. This is almost impossible to maintain in overcrowded slums. In most slums, one hundred square meters of land often contain one hundred housing units with more than one thousand people living within it. In the slums of Mumbai and Dhaka, large families often live in huts of less than one hundred square feet. With areas such as these, social distancing is not feasible. It is, therefore, crucial to educate them on ways to be safe while in overcrowded slums.

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It is imperative to include slum dwellers in the conversation concerning the creation of strategies for quarantining and social distancing. Otherwise, the slum dwellers will lack agency in initiatives that pertain to them. Although there are steps taken to help prevent the spread of the virus in middle-​ and upper-​class people, there should be as much emphasis on the effects it will have on the people in the slums. Let Slum Dwellers Have Easy Access to Affordable Healthcare

Accessible and affordable healthcare is vital during a pandemic. It is essential to test people that are exhibiting symptoms or who have been in contact with an infected person to manage the number of cases. This is as, or even more, crucial within slums compared to affluent areas. When the threat of spreading the virus increases, it is imperative that the risks are lessened as much as possible. Healthcare and testing need to be available to all people without any pay barriers or fear. Within many slum communities, there is a fear of healthcare workers and police due to negative interactions in the past. This fear makes it harder for slum dwellers to feel comfortable going to seek help. A possible solution could include having healthcare workers going into slums, the government explaining what will happen during the tests and quarantine, and having NGO representatives present to help curb the fear during testing. As testing procedures improve, this process may become more streamlined. Provide Food and Monetary Assistance for Slum Dwellers

Both India and Dhaka responded to COVID-​19 by enforcing a country-​wide lockdown. This lockdown hurt many slum dwellers, given that many of them participate in the informal economy. Unable to work remotely, many struggled with the financial impact that the lockdown had. It is necessary to help them during this time of financial burden. As long as work is unavailable or insufficient for support, people in slums deserve adequate compensation. As public assistance programs and agencies shut down due to COVID-​19, there was an increased amount of pressure

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put onto these slum populations. Basic needs such as food, which were offered to children at government schools, became the responsibility of their parents or guardians. With the lockdown, these guardians often had little money due to being without work. Although there are charity organizations and government-​allocated food, it is not always accessible to the slum populations. Additionally, it is challenging to abide by social distancing and other safety regulations when there are many people crowded together in food lines. These charity organizations and the government should be making the food more accessible and safer for people to get without putting them at a higher risk of contracting the virus. When Available, Prioritize Vaccination in Slum Areas

Experts across the world are working hard to create a vaccine against COVID-​19. If one becomes available, there must be efforts to vaccinate people in slums. Otherwise, this virus will continue to live on in the more impoverished areas of the world. This was the case with the 2009 swine flu. Despite there being a vaccine for the virus that caused a pandemic over ten years ago, there are still hundreds of cases in India alone. Vaccinations should be carried out by healthcare workers inside the slums for free to end the spread of COVID-​19. The vaccine should be explained well to avoid fear within the slum communities. Additionally, availability and access to the vaccine within slums should not come after it is available to the affluent. People in slums should not be considered a later priority, especially since they face higher risks from COVID-​19. A person’s ability to get a vaccine should not depend on their socioeconomic status. Prioritize Poverty Reduction Strategy

The lessons that we learn from this global pandemic will determine our ability to deal with a similar crisis in the future. This pandemic has uncovered many social maladies, including public health disparities, in the existing globalized system. This unprecedented crisis has provided an opportunity to discuss what it means to self-​ isolate and quarantine while

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living in compact and overcrowded slums. To reduce the disproportionate effect of global pandemics, we must (a) reexamine the order in which the globalized world is organized; and (b) implement effective anti-​poverty policies across the countries of the Global South.

Key Resources Agarwal, Siddharth. 2011. “The State of Urban Health in India:  Comparing the Poorest Quartile to the Rest of the Urban Population in Selected States and Cities.” Environment and Urbanization, 23(1): 13–​28. Banks, Nicola, Roy, Manoj, and Hulme, David. 2011. “Neglecting the Urban Poor in Bangladesh:  Research, Policy, and Action in the Context of Climate Change.” Environment and Urbanization, 23(2): 487–​502. Davis, Mike. 2006. Planet of Slums. London: Verso. Ezeh, Alex, Oyebode, Oyinlola, Satterthwaite, David, et al. 2017. “The History, Geography, and Sociology of Slums and the Health Problems of People Who Live in Slums.” The Lancet, 389(10068): 547–​558. Fox, Sean. 2014. ”The Political Economy of Slums: Theory and Evidence from Sub-​Saharan Africa.” World Development, 54: 191–​203. Hossain, Shahadat. 2010. Urban Poverty in Bangladesh:  Slum Communities, Migration and Social Integration. London: I.B. Tauris. McMichael, Philip. 2016 [1996]. Development and Social Change:  A Global Perspective. New York: SAGE. Mukhija, Vinit. 2017. Squatters as Developers? Slum Redevelopment in Mumbai. London: Routledge. Nijman, Jan. 2008. “Against the Odds:  Slum Rehabilitation in Neoliberal Mumbai.” Cities, 25(2): 73–​85. UN‐Habitat. 2004. “The Challenge of Slums:  Global Report on Human Settlements.” Management of Environmental Quality, 15(3): 337–​338. Wilkinson, Annie. 2020. “Local Response in Health Emergencies: Key Considerations for Addressing the COVID-​ 19 Pandemic in Informal Urban Settlements.” Environment and Urbanization:  1–​ 20. DOI: 10.1177/​095624782092284.

About the Authors

Nikhil Deb is Assistant Professor of Sociology at Murray State University. Previously, he was Assistant Professor of Sociology at Shahjalal University (Bangladesh). His publications on development, the environment, and the

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Global South appeared in several peer-​reviewed journals and edited volumes. Maya Rao is an undergraduate student at the University of Tennessee. She is double majoring in Geography and Sustainability.

6 The Human Right to Water and Sanitation in the Age of COVID-​19 Yvonne A. Braun The Problem

The United Nations General Assembly recognized water and sanitation as a fundamental human right in July 2010. Water is inarguably a basic necessity of life, and safe and improved sanitation systems are both fundamental to optimal health and necessary for the protection of public health. Yet the global pandemic, COVID-​19, has further revealed the divergence between the vision of the human rights framework and the realities of the everyday conditions of millions worldwide who lack secure and plentiful access to safe water and sufficient sanitation. The World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-​19 a global pandemic on March 11, 2020. Expert advice has centered on handwashing and hygienic practices, in addition to social distancing and contact tracing, to prevent the spread of the virus. Preventative practices such as these presume abundant access to the basic features of modern water and sanitation systems, yet data at the global, national, and local levels demonstrate highly uneven access to clean water, with sociocultural, racial/​ ethnic, socioeconomic, and geographic inequalities shaping divergent experiences for communities that may directly impact their health. Indeed, lack of access to clean water limits the ability to protect oneself from COVID-​19 through preventative hand hygiene. Individuals, households, and communities without secure access to clean water experience greater vulnerability to exposure of COVID-​19, due to their limited ability to practice recommended guidelines for frequent handwashing 61

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with ample soap and water. Proper waste management is also key to preventing the spread of infectious diseases such as COVID-​19. Where there is a lack of secure and improved sanitation systems to safely isolate and treat human waste, households and communities are less able to protect water sources from being contaminated and to protect themselves from exposure through social distancing, further exacerbating the risks to individuals and to public health from exposure to COVID-​19. Less developed areas of the world are more likely to have higher rates of death and disease as a result of unimproved systems of sanitation, and contaminated water continues to cause death and disease at alarmingly high rates globally. WHO estimates that diarrhea from contaminated water and poor sanitation is linked to the deaths of 842,000 people each year, and is among the leading causes of child mortality under five years of age in less developed countries. Such preventable causes of death demonstrate the risks and challenges that poverty, poor infrastructure systems, discrimination, and inequalities present to communities when the mechanisms to protect themselves from exposure to COVID-​19 relies on access to clean water and improved sanitation. Human Rights Watch, reporting on inequalities in access to clean water and improved sanitation within more developed countries, also reveals differential access, risks and costs borne by communities of color and low-​ income, indigenous, and marginalized populations, including the uneven consequences of poor infrastructure, environmental pollution, water privatization, and rising water prices. The right to water and improved sanitation are linked to the provision of basic necessities and to the preventative mechanisms to protect personal and public health during COVID-​19. The global pandemic starkly reminds us of the existing inequalities in access to clean water and adequate sanitation, and how these dramatically shape risks for a number of viruses and infectious diseases.

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Research Evidence

There has been significant global progress on access to improved water and sanitation since the late 1990s. WHO and the United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Joint Management Programme (JMP) report that, since 2000, nearly 1.6 billion people gained access to basic drinking water services, which includes water piped into the home or into a protected dug well, and approximately 2.1 billion people gained access to basic sanitation in their home, defined as flush toilets or a latrine with a slab not shared with other households. Yet, data from WHO, UNICEF, and the World Bank show disparities of access to basic infrastructure and services still exist between and within regions and countries. Socioeconomic status and poverty, as well as significant urban and rural differences, shape access to basic needs, the ability to employ hygienic practices, and vulnerability to increased infection, illness, and death, particularly for low-​ income or marginalized communities and vulnerable groups such as children. UNICEF reports that over 800 children die every day from preventable diseases caused by insufficient or contaminated water, and a lack of facilities for proper sanitation and hygiene. Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH)

The interdependent nature of access to water, sanitation, and hygiene, and their importance to improving health outcomes and quality of life indicators, was noted in the 2015 Sustainable Development Goals and is at the core of WHO/​UNICEF JMP’s Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) initiative working in over 100 countries. WHO/​UNICEF JMP find that the poorest of the poor and those living in rural areas are hardest hit by the lack of safe and sufficient drinking water, sanitation systems, and conditions for good hygiene in their homes, schools, and healthcare facilities, which increase their vulnerability to COVID-​19.

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Access to Clean Water

Public health practitioners identify water services as safely managed when they are located on premises, available when needed, and free of contamination. WHO reports 5.3 billion people globally used safely managed services in 2017, with another 1.4 billion using a “basic” water service, defined as improved sources within 30 minutes per round trip to collect water. Approximately 206 million people used a “limited” water service that was improved but further than 30 minutes round trip, and 144 million people collected drinking water directly from rivers, lakes, and other surface water sources. The lowest levels of coverage were in the 48 countries designated as Least Developed Countries by the United Nations, particularly in Sub-​Saharan Africa. Access to Improved Sanitation Systems

WHO/​UNICEF JMP reports that two billion people lack a basic sanitation service, which is a private, improved toilet or latrine that separates excreta from human contact. Among this population, almost 673 million people still practice open defecation due to lack of proper sanitation systems. Countries with the lowest coverage of sufficient sanitation are concentrated in Sub-​Saharan Africa and Southern Asia, with the poorest households and those living in rural areas least likely to have access to a basic sanitation service. These conditions increase the risk of water being contaminated by human waste and reduce people’s ability to employ hygienic and social distancing practices to prevent the spread of COVID-​19. Facilities for Handwashing and Hygiene

According to WHO/​UNICEF JMP, globally two out of five people have access to a basic handwashing facility in their homes. Access was lower in countries designated as Least Developed by the United Nations, where three out of four people do not have regular access to the conditions for good handwashing hygiene. UNICEF reports that 900 million

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children attend schools that do not have access to soap and water for handwashing. Although the data on healthcare facilities is more unevenly reported, WHO/​UNICEF JMP estimate globally that 40 percent do not have infrastructure to practice good hand hygiene at points of care.

Recommendations and Solutions

Universal access to safe and sufficient drinking water, improved sanitation systems, and the necessities for good hygienic practices, including handwashing, are fundamental needs and human rights, and are the building blocks for preventing the spread of infectious diseases such as COVID-​19. The global disparities in access to water, sanitation, and hygienic facilities occur within complex systems of inequality, which only heighten disparities in vulnerability to the global pandemic. Recommendations from this research are to elevate the necessity of actualizing access to clean water and improved sanitation systems for all people. The human right to water and sanitation requires access to water not be mediated by the ability to pay, and that the preventable communicable health risks to poor people are taken more seriously as public health concerns. Making Water Free for Non-​Commercial Use

The provision of free or heavily subsidized water for non-​ commercial use is necessary as a minimum step to ensure universal access to water in the fight against the spread of COVID-​19. Governments and municipalities should subsidize water for low-​income communities as a basic necessity of life, and as an integral component of wellness that links individual health and public health. This may seem bold in a world where water privatization has increased dramatically since the 1980s, but it is also a necessity in an interdependent, globalized world where we all face a global pandemic together and in which the vast inequalities in living conditions, as measured by access to clean water and improved sanitation, literally shape our life chances.

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Subsidizing the cost of water for non-​commercial use is addressing an important condition of poverty that shapes differential access to water and sanitation. Removing cost as a barrier to access water will not only bolster resilience to COVID-​19 and future pandemics, but will improve the risks of illness and death associated with common and preventable problems from contaminated water, such as diarrhea. Ensuring access to clean water to practice good hygiene helps poor households avoid disease, minimizing disruptions to work and staving off burdensome medical expenses. Addressing poverty through access to safe and affordable water saves lives and slows the community spread of COVID-​19. Stop the Privatization of Public Utilities

Public utilities, such as water authorities, should remain in the control of public entities to ensure unfettered access to water as a means to reduce transmission of COVID-​19. Public–​ private partnerships in the water sector have been heralded as the solution for building more efficient water and sanitation systems that will provide increased service coverage. However, agreements between governments and private corporations to have water companies own and operate public utilities to sell water to customers, a process known as water privatization, has demonstrated a pattern of creating or exacerbating issues of access and equity. A report by Food & Water Watch states that private companies will often avoid expanding infrastructure and services into low-​income communities on the assumption that water use will be lower in these areas and the challenges of collecting on their bills higher. The financial objectives of private companies are often at odds with the public service demands of water delivery, and certainly a human rights approach to water and sanitation. In general, this misalignment, compounded by a lack of regulation and poor implementation, has led to little or no reduction in the cost of privatized services to public entities and increased prices for water service for residential consumers. Even small increases in water rates can push poor people to try to find alternative water sources, which may lead to them using substandard or contaminated water. Price increases for

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residential use can also lead to water-​shutoffs as lower income households cannot afford water bills, reducing access even further and exacerbating inequities between households and communities. Private water companies have generally not achieved greater efficiencies, and have not been accountable to building or upgrading infrastructure that would ensure greater access to water or to high water safety standards, which is particularly essential during COVID-​19. Moratorium on Water Shutoffs

Water authorities, whether public or private, should not shut off people’s water due to missed payments because access to water is essential to stopping the spread of COVID-​19. Governments and municipalities need to demonstrate a commitment to the provision of services, regardless of people’s ability to pay. Where private companies operate water utilities, municipalities must put in place contracts that uphold their responsibility to the secure access of constituents and enforce regulations on companies to uphold and ensure access as fundamental rights. During COVID-​ 19, some municipalities “paused” water service shutoffs in recognition of the public health risks that lack of access to water posed. It should be made illegal to disconnect residential water services due to bill collection issues. Invest in Infrastructure for Community Public Health and Improved Health Outcomes

Universal access to water and sanitation are important at the household level, but infrastructure and services are also essential for schools, healthcare facilities, places of worship, work environments, and community access points to reduce the transmission of COVID-​19. Efforts to ensure universal access to safe and improved sanitation systems will require municipalities, governments, and multilateral institutions budget and prioritize significant investments in infrastructure to not only protect public health, but to improve health and nutritional outcomes for individuals and households. Short-​ term investments in infrastructure to address the gaps in

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services can build resilience toward COVID-​19 and future crises. Longer-​term investments to reduce global disparities in access to clean water and improved sanitation will be required to protect the lives of those in the most vulnerable groups worldwide. When sanitation systems are improved throughout a community—​in schools, healthcare facilities, and workplaces, in addition to households—​ they can contribute to enhancing the safety and educational prospects of women and girls, in particular, and research by WHO links access to clean water and sanitation with overall improvements in wellbeing. Planning for water and sanitation infrastructure upgrades to address COVID-​19 can also be opportunities to address the conditions of a changing climate. Many parts of the world most at risk from the effects of climate change, namely droughts and floods, also have low levels of access to uncontaminated drinking water and improved sanitation. Where sanitation systems are subpar, climatic events, such as floods, can exacerbate the contamination of water and increase the risks of infection from water-​borne diseases, and reduce people’s ability to employ preventative strategies to reduce the spread of infectious diseases such as COVID-​19. Improving the resiliency of these communities to COVID-​19 and to climate change needs to include increasing access to secure systems of water and sanitation, which will improve living standards and health outcomes generally and specifically reduce the spread of infections during the global pandemic and climatic events. Communal Access to Clean Water, Sanitation, and Handwashing Facilities

Handwashing stations with ample access to clean water and soap in communal spaces are necessary to prevent the spread of infectious diseases such as COVID-​ 19. Municipalities should require access to soap and water be generally available in community spaces, including ensuring access for the unhoused who may be particularly vulnerable to the risks associated with exposure due to the lack of access to common preventative mechanisms. Since water and soap are relatively

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expensive in some areas, soap should be subsidized as part of a national government program to allow low-​ income households to purchase the quantities of soap needed to follow recommended handwashing guidelines which is essential to reduce the spread of COVID-​19. Universal Access to Healthcare Facilities

Upgraded healthcare facilities are essential for addressing public health concerns and managing the treatment and transmission of COVID-​19. Where healthcare centers lack basic facilities for hygienic practices of handwashing with water and soap at points of care and at toilets, as well as sufficient services for the proper handling and disposal of healthcare waste and sanitation, they become places of infection and risk rather than sites for prevention and redress. Nearly 1.5 billion people go to healthcare centers without toilets and which lack proper systems for disposal of wastes, an obstacle to delivering high-​ quality care and delivering improved health outcomes. National and local governments should enact building codes that uphold regulations for improved sanitation systems and handwashing stations at points of care in all healthcare facilities. Multilateral institutions and nongovernmental organizations working in global health should prioritize increasing access to healthcare facilities, and ensuring that healthcare facilities are equipped with safely managed water, improved sanitation with handwashing stations, and, where needed, low-​tech handwashing stations are widely available. The discrepancies in access to water, sanitation, and hygienic facilities preexisted the emergence of COVID-​19. However, the global pandemic and its primary preventative mechanisms of handwashing demonstrates the multifaceted vulnerabilities that undergird these inequalities, and present an opportunity to elevate these fundamental needs as global priorities that need the political will to take accelerated actions and resources to areas in greatest need. While this would address the conditions of COVID-​19, pro-​poor efforts to increase access would also mediate other existing risks, such as exposure to contaminated water, that present additional

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common dangers to people reliant on subpar sanitation and water facilities. Over time, addressing contaminated water and improved sanitation will reduce water and sanitation-​ related illnesses and deaths, and UNICEF estimates that if basic, low-​cost water and sanitation facilities were provided to countries in need, the world would save around US$263 billion per year. They also estimate that if coverage expanded to everyone in the world, there would be a saving of US$11.6 billion in costs for health treatments just from the reduction in diarrhea-​ related disease alone. Effective partnerships and planning to address these access gaps will be required. Partnerships between municipalities and communities will be necessary to ensure access to improved sanitation systems, and can also be opportunities for job training and employment in areas with high unemployment rates. Sufficient and safe water, improved sanitation, and facilities for good hygiene are critical for preventing the spread of infectious diseases, including COVID-​19. As essential daily needs of all people, they are also the material manifestations of the ideal held up by the United Nations when it declared water and sanitation as human rights.

Key Resources Food & Water Watch. 2011. “Water=Life:  How Privatization Undermines the Human Right to Water.” Issue Brief, Washington, DC, July. Retrieved May 25, 2020. Available at www.foodandwaterwatch.org/​sites/​default/​files/​Water%20Equals%20Life%20IB%20 July%202011.pdf. Human Rights Watch. 2019. “The Human Right to Water:  A Guide for First Nations Communities and Advocates.” Retrieved May 22, 2020. Available at www.hrw.org/​report/​2019/​10/​23/​human-​ right-​water/​guide-​first-​nations-​communities-​and-​advocates. Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR). n.d. “What are Human Rights?” Retrieved May 25, 2020. Available at www.ohchr.org/​ EN/​ Issues/​ Pages/​ WhatareHumanRights.aspx. Petrova, Violeta. 2006. “At the Frontiers of the Rush for Blue Gold: Water Privatization and the Human Right to Water.” Brooklyn Journal of International Law, 31(2): 577–​613. United Nations General Assembly. 2010. “Resolution Adopted by the General Assembly on 28 July 2010:  62/​292. The Human Right to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation.” Retrieved May 20, 2020.

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Available at www.un.org/​en/​ga/​search/​view_​doc.asp?symbol=A/​ RES/​64/​292. United Nations General Assembly. 2016. “Resolution Adopted by the General Assembly on 17 December 2015:  70/​169. The Human Rights to Safe Drinking Water and Sanitation.” Retrieved May 20, 2020. Available at www.un.org/​en/​ga/​search/​view_​doc.asp?symbol=A/​RES/​70/​169. United Nations Water. 2019. Human Rights to Water and Sanitation. Retrieved May 22, 2020. Available at www.unwater.org/​ water-​ facts/​human-​rights/​. World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Joint Management Programme (JMP). 2019. “Progress on Household Drinking Water, Sanitation and Hygiene 2000–​ 2017. Special Focus on Inequalities.” Report, New York. Retrieved May 23, 2020. Available at https://​washdata.org/​sites/​ default/​ f iles/ ​ d ocuments/ ​ r eports/ ​ 2 019- ​ 0 7/​ j mp-​ 2 019-​ w ash-​ households.pdf. World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Joint Management Programme (JMP). 2019. “Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Healthcare Facilities:  Global Baseline Report 2019.” Report, New York. Retrieved May 22, 2020. Available at https://​data.unicef.org/​resources/​wash-​in-​health-​ care-​facilities/​. World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Joint Management Programme (JMP). 2020. “Global Estimates for Basic Hygiene Services in Households, Schools and Health Care Facilities are a Call to Action to Prevent the Spread of COVID-​19.” Retrieved May 23, 2020. Available at https://​washdata.org/​.

About the Author

Yvonne A. Braun, PhD is a professor in the Department of Global Studies at the University of Oregon in Eugene, Oregon. Her research focuses on the politics of water and international development, specializing in gender, intersectionality, environment and environmental justice, globalization, social movements, social inequality, and health and human rights. Her recent scholarship has appeared in Gender & Society, Social Problems, Journal of Global Ethics, International Feminist Journal of Politics, Journal of Environmental Management, Journal of Political Ecology, and Cambridge Journal of Regions, Economy, and Society.

7 Pandemic Perils of Migrant Workers Inequalities Intensified Reema Sen and Brian Gran The Problem

The COVID-​19 crisis has thrown into relief the position of migrant workers as “second class citizens,” a colloquialism loosely used to connote segments of a populace who simultaneously belong and do not belong. The strange dichotomy of citizen and non-​citizen ignores contributions legal migrants make, such as leadership of corporations and nonprofit organizations, scientific and academic research, and athletics. Despite often possessing burgeoning bank accounts, migrants feel that their statuses within a foreign society are lower by virtue of their nationality, ethnicity, skin color, and other factors. Many experience lower socioeconomic statuses and are subject to poor working conditions in an exploitative political economy. The COVID-​19 crisis has put migrants’ lives into disarray and exposed rampant institutional inequalities that contribute to their vulnerability. A “migrant worker” may be defined as a person who is to be, or is or has been, engaged in a remunerated activity in a state of which he or she is not a national. The term “migrant worker” will be used broadly to denote international migrants (those who have moved between countries) and internal migrants (those who move between states of the same country), as well as return migrants (those who may be seasonal workers or have lost employment and have returned to their home). Migration trends typically involve workers moving from a lower income to higher income country to plug talent gaps by providing skilled labor or to engage in unskilled labor, which local populations sometimes find 73

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demeaning work. Many low-​skilled migrants are employed without social protections, formal contracts, or workplace protections, and are vulnerable to job loss or pay cuts without recourse to legal aid. Migrants are subject to xenophobia, racial, ethnic, or other forms of discrimination, and often are dependent on employers for residence and visa statuses. COVID-​19 has driven global economies, companies, and workers into a crisis of unprecedented proportions. The ILO indicates 258 million international migrants and 164 million international migrant workers worldwide and UNDESA estimates that almost 20 percent of migrants may be irregular. In many countries they form a large share of the frontline workforce, exposed to COVID-​19 risk through essential jobs in healthcare, services, transport, construction, agriculture, and food processing. From a job perspective, migrant workers are vulnerable, first, by virtue of holding jobs in essential industries where they are less likely to face job losses (but more likely to confront health risks) and, second, by holding jobs in non-​essential industries that cannot be undertaken from home (where they are more likely to face job loss). Mainstream media have reported stories from around the world on the plight of migrant workers suffering loss of employment and lacking resources to support themselves and their families. Many unskilled migrants are being forced to risk their lives in unsanitary conditions which do not allow for social distancing, with scarce protective gear. Shocking reports are emerging about crowded dormitories where workers are quarantined with shared toilets, or poor working conditions with nonpayment of wages, and subject to xenophobia and other forms of discrimination. Women are at particular risk of violence during the pandemic. They have limited rights in destination countries (low wages, long hours, no health insurance as domestic workers), which would leave them helpless if they contracted the disease. Many are now being let go by their employers with no safety net or place to live. Restriction of movement between borders has forced many migrants into food insecurity or homelessness. Others face anxieties about not being able to go home to join their families.

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Based on estimates of migration stocks and remittances, before the pandemic around 270 million people lived outside their country of birth and sent nearly $700 billion in remittances to their home countries. The World Bank estimates that as a result of the pandemic, remittances to low-​and middle-​income countries will drop by around 20 percent in 2020 which might severely affect the lifestyle of countless families in lower income nations. Next, we illustrate the disproportionate risk migrants face through comparison of two countries, the United States, a developed nation with many international migrants; and India, a developing nation with many internal migrants; both countries with large, diverse populations though strikingly different contexts; and yet the plight of migrants is not vastly dissimilar during a global pandemic.

Research Evidence The United States

The pandemic may harm low wage migrant workers and undocumented migrants without access to healthcare. US inequalities impact legal status, employment, and healthcare access. Nature of job (frontline): The Center for Migration Studies estimates that 19.8 million immigrants work in “essential critical infrastructure” (health, manufacturing, food, service, infrastructure, safety, etc.), about half are naturalized citizens, 4.6 million are legal non-​citizens and 5.5 million are undocumented. Naturalized citizens comprise 67 percent of immigrants (ie migrants) in healthcare. Undocumented immigrants are 54 percent of foreign-​ born agriculture workers; 50 percent of foreign-​born work in construction, including plumbers and electricians, and in tire, cement, rubber, and household appliance manufacturing, significant to the economy and its functioning. Frontline migrant workers in healthcare, agriculture, cleaning, and domestic work, and migrants doing “essential work” must go to work or lose jobs

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without unemployment benefits. These workers are putting their families and themselves in harm’s way. Relief exclusion:  The Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security Act (CARES Act) offers a tax rebate that is not available to those who have filed tax returns without a Social Security number; or where either spouse has filed without a Social Security number. The CARES Act excludes many taxpaying, mixed-​status families from receiving critical federal stimulus relief. In 2018, there were 3.8 million “mixed-​status” households containing 18.3 million people. Thus, CARES excludes many migrant workers, including international students, even though they paid taxes. Prohibitive cost/​ limited access:  High healthcare costs combine with health insurance constraints to limit healthcare access. Because health insurance is typically obtained through employment, migrants without full-​time employment may be unable to afford private insurance and public health insurance may not offer coverage. Individuals with low incomes may experience COVID-​19 infection due to lack of insurance. Non-​citizens are far more likely to be uninsured. Among the nonelderly, 23 percent of lawful immigrants and 45 percent of undocumented immigrants are uninsured compared to 9 percent of citizens. The Kaiser Family Foundation estimates out-​of-​pocket COVID-​19 costs to be between $10,000 and $20,000, or more, which is equivalent to almost 50 percent of the annual median wage, $40,000, of a full-​time migrant worker. Given 20 percent of foreign-​ born migrants, and 50 percent of undocumented migrants, are without health insurance coverage, the US healthcare system looks precarious. The US presidential administration has not specified if treatment costs for those seeking care for COVID-​19-​like symptoms who test negative, will be covered. It is unclear how federal pandemic funding will be allocated. Mobility and legal constraints: Consulates have closed and visa processing is suspended in many countries. Thousands of migrants have lost jobs or face cancelled internships, are trapped without work and income, ineligible to receive unemployment insurance and stimulus cash payments, and cannot return home. Some have been rendered “illegal” through lack of transport or access to consulates for visas and

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passports, which may hamper healthcare access. The U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services is granting temporary work visas to returning H-​2A and H-​2B migrants who are “temporary” but now considered pandemic essential. This pandemic reveals the double standards and opportunism of the US government in importing migrant labor while taking a hard line on immigration. Internal Migrant Workers in India

Large internal migration: India illustrates the predicament of internal migrants during this pandemic. The ILO indicates that 92 percent of India’s jobs are informal because these jobs do not offer protection, contract, or guarantee of continuity. Approximately 100 million migrant workers are directly responsible for 10 percent of India’s GDP. Lack of governmental preparedness:  A sudden, strict lockdown to curtail COVID-​19 was imposed in March 2020, preventing migrant workers from returning home. Many were earning low wages, living in cramped quarters, and sending money to families. With public transport suspended, migrants were confined to overcrowded tenements with limited resources, including food and healthcare. Despite hunger and fears for families and employment migrants traveled hundreds of miles on foot in temperatures exceeding 100ºF. The government failed to consider the volume and situations of migrants in a rush to contain COVID-​ 19. After more than a month of public pressures, the federal government operationalized food rations and transport to allow migrants to return home in states a few thousand miles away. More than 97 million migrants have made their way home. Food insecurity:  Food insecurity is a significant risk. With agriculture’s decline, most migrants have moved to urban areas and to richer states. Five percent of India’s poorest households in rural areas allocate about 61 percent of their total spending to food, while in urban areas this share is only 28 percent for the richest 5 percent. Returning migrants have struggled to find employment given limited opportunities in villages and disguised unemployment in agriculture.

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Threatened livelihoods, no safety net: Government measures continue to be inadequate. Migrant workers experience weak income support and wage fraud. In a resource constrained economy, featuring high public debt and a large deficit, with a huge population of significant density and weak social security, migrant workers face significant risks. Unemployment tripled under the lockdown to 24 percent in May, although this level has recently fallen due to partial reopening and government-​ instituted employment schemes. The US, in comparison, has no group as large or underserved as the Indian migrant workers in India, who number 140 million. Intersectional inequality:  Government-​instigated nationalism (fomenting Islamophobia and an “underclass” designation) has resulted in the passing of the Citizenship Amendment Act, which targets Muslims (citizenship status) whose religious gatherings are blamed for COVID-​ 19. Muslims are encountering denials of healthcare, food rations, and other exclusionary practices during the pandemic and may even experience statelessness if found not to possess newly mandated documents to prove their citizenship, even if they were born and have spent their entire lives in India. With 28 states and eight territories, and labor supply surpassing demand, citizenship rights in India are no less complex than those international migrants encounter. Migrants experience limbo from non-​assimilation and legal-​political restrictions, including inabilities to access benefits and vote. With four hours’ notice, a lockdown ignoring migrant workers’ situation communicates the governmental perspective of migrant expendability. In both countries, the pandemic exposes complex realities migrant labor must overcome given neoliberal globalization and entrenched capitalism: they are exploitable commodities.

Recommendations and Solutions

At the broadest level, the exploitative nature of “pull” factors (importing “cheap labor”) and “push” factors (limited opportunities and grinding poverty) cannot be transformed in the short term. Long-​term, regulatory, cultural, institutional

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changes that facilitate greater equality require significant investments and commitment that may take decades to achieve. Short-​ term, immediate measures, however, are essential to provide relief to migrant workers in limbo and protect those at risk. Here are some examples. Governments Should Provide Immediate Relief Measures

Some countries have instituted small payouts and income subsidies (for example Japan, Italy, China, Philippines, Chile). New Zealand has made its Wage Subsidy Scheme available to migrants. Others are providing free access to virus testing, and selective healthcare (for example Qatar, Malaysia, Korea, Saudi Arabia). Some countries have facilitated return home by reducing or eliminating penalties (for example Korea, Kuwait) and allowing future reentry. Local governments more than national governments have sometimes played bigger roles. The US state of California created a $125 million relief fund for undocumented migrants with $75 million in state support and $50 million in donations. New York City will use a $20 million Open Society Foundation grant to provide one-​time payments of $400 to migrant workers regardless of migration status. The City of Minneapolis has created a forgivable loan program to help renters and small businesses regardless of documentation status. Some countries are ensuring special transportation services for migrants to return home. The Supreme Court, India’s highest court, ordered the government in early June to correctly register migrant workers, ensure free transportation, food, water, and shelter until they reach home. The railways must provide trains (“shramik specials”) to home villages. These ameliorative measures, however , may be too late to help the intended beneficiaries. Many migrants have traveled home without access to relief packages or transport, encountering police brutality at checkpoints and stigma as “virus carriers,” and endured badly coordinated state government responses.

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Governments Should Implement Temporary Citizenship Rights and Social Protection

Sometimes migrants’ human rights take precedence over political and regulatory considerations. Migrants in Portugal enjoy “temporary citizenship” if they have previously applied for citizenship, residence permit, or temporary asylum. Temporary citizenship leads to full access to the national health system, welfare benefits, bank accounts, work and rental contracts. Another example is Australia, which has selectively expanded categories of migrants, provided access to the Special Benefit financial assistance program (designed to assist individuals facing severe financial hardship), and allowed unemployed individuals with temporary work visas to withdraw $5,996 (A$10,000) annually from retirement benefits savings for the next two years. Efforts are underway by many countries to devise temporary measures now to accommodate migrants with a view to containing overall risk for citizens. Governments Should Authorize Legal Concessions/​Visa Extensions/​ Regulatory Relaxations

Countries are adjusting visa regulations to facilitate movement, protect seasonal workers’ employment, allow students to work and remain in the country (for example New Zealand, Australia, Russia, Poland, Malaysia, among others). Some have extended migrant working visas, or amnesties, and taken other steps to alleviate constraints faced by migrant workers and their families living in countries of destination (for example Bahrain, Kenya, Kuwait, Lebanon, Morocco, South Africa, Thailand, United Arab Emirates (UAE)). The Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights has asked all Member States to review the circumstances of rejected asylum-​seekers and migrants of irregular status currently in detention centers and called for their release. Releases have been reported in Belgium, Spain, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom among others.

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Governments Should Institute Job Creation/​Employment Opportunity Programs

Providing work for return migrants and those who have lost jobs is critical for the future of migrant workers. Public works programs can be undertaken specifically to manage the COVID-​ 19 crisis, which could create employment opportunities and help upskill and educate people on health and safety. China has launched an online skills development program, which also includes migrant workers. South Korea is trying to attract existing migrants to work in agriculture through job-​matching centers near farmers. India will spend $6.6 billion on a scheme to create temporary jobs in villages for millions of migrant workers who have left cities. Twenty-​ five different types of work based on skill mapping surveys will be provided as part of rural infrastructure building. Job matching and job search programs should also be targeted to unemployed migrants returning from overseas who may have skills learned abroad that could be deployed in local markets. Programs Should Bolster Communication/​Advocacy/​Inclusion

There is an urgent need to ensure that migrant workers (who often face language barriers or may be illiterate) receive necessary communication to allow them to take appropriate precautionary measures and access newly available resources. A number of nonprofit organizations and community bodies, along with international organizations like the ILO, UN Women, and the World Bank Group, are supporting partners in various countries to provide useful information on issues, including COVID-​ 19, legal assistance to migrant workers who may be victims of labor rights violations, trainings and materials on health and safety. Local and international organizations need to continue the advocacy for human rights of migrants, particularly under these difficult circumstances, and ensure that governments are including specific references to migrant workers in decisions, interventions, and policy documents.

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Programs Should Employ Gender Sensitive Policies

Women are at increased risk of violence during the COVID-​19 crisis. Migrant women who are victims of domestic abuse are at greater risk now due to quarantine/​shelter in place restrictions with potential perpetrators. Women in the frontlines of care work face increased burden of risk and overwork, as well as stigmatization and physical and verbal abuse due to their involvement with COVID-​19 patients. Of the approximate 100 million international migrant women workers who send home remittances, about 8.5 million are domestic workers. They are reported to be at increased risk of COVID-​19 infection and social vulnerabilities. They typically do not have social protection, insurance, access to maternity services and healthcare, or assets, and are dependent on their employers for livelihood and sometimes visas and housing. The informal workers have scarce savings (making healthcare unaffordable) and are unable to seek legal recourse for loss of jobs or abuse. The mental health of these vulnerable segments in addition to physical health necessitates particular attention, which ministries of labor along with civil society organizations must track and address urgently, especially in light of closures of courts and loss of funding of support organizations. Gender responsive protection measures are imperative and humanitarian agencies must ensure that vulnerable women have knowledge and access to the same. In Qatar, since in-​ person cash transfer services are closed, the government has asked companies to educate migrant workers regarding online remittance services, which have been set up in several languages, an approach that has been beneficial particularly to migrant domestic workers. Some of these measures and others (see World Bank reports for current information) may lead to better coordinated and compassionate global approaches to migrant protection. The plight of migrant workers in the age of COVID-​19 remains precarious. Though some countries of origin are improving unilateral measures or consular services for their citizens in countries of destination through dedicated helplines, website information, and focal points of contact, and attempting to provide legal assistance, transport, and humanitarian support

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to stranded workers, bilateral and regional level cooperation between governments would go a long way in protecting migrant workers. Until now, the global political economy only supported limited recognition of migrants’ rights and constrains agency. Socioeconomic constraints for unskilled workers and a looming recession endanger livelihoods. Health disparities via embedded institutional mechanisms perpetuate inequalities. The limited measures instituted by some countries in the short term may be inadequate to ensure long-​term sustainability of migrant labor, posing the risk of a major shift in migration trends and associated consequences in the years to come. However, some of the ongoing efforts to offer rights and protection indicate available opportunities and resources, including political will, that may lead to migrant workers enjoying a modicum of socioeconomic wellbeing and possess rights as societal members in the future.

Key Resources “Addressing the Impacts of the Covid-​19 Pandemic On Women Migrant Workers.” 2020. UN Women, Guidance Note. Retrieved May 25, 2020. Available at www.unwomen.org/​-​/​media/​headquarters/​ attachments/​sections/​library/​publications/​2020/​guidance-​note-​ impacts-​of-​the-​covid-​19-​pandemic-​on-​women-​migrant-​workers-​ en.pdf?la=en&vs=227. Al Dahdah, Marine, Ferry, Mathieu, Guérin, Isabelle, and Venkatasubramanian, Govindan. 2020. “The Covid-​ 19 Crisis in India.” Books & Ideas. Retrieved May 20, 2020. Available at https://​ booksandideas.net/​The-​COVID-​19-​Crisis-​in-​India.html. Alvarez, Priscilla. 2020. “Trump Administration has Made Sweeping Changes to the US Immigration System during the Coronavirus Pandemic.” CNN. Retrieved May 26, 2020. Available at www.cnn. com/​2020/​03/​18/​politics/​immigration-​changes-​coronavirus/​ index.html. “COVID-​ 19 and Immigrant Workers.” 2020. AFL–​ CIO, America’s Unions. Retrieved May 25, 2020. Available at https://​aflcio.org/​ COVID-​19-​and-​immigrant-​workers. “COVID-​ 19 and the World of Work.” 2020. ILO, ILO Monitor. Retrieved May 23, 2020. Available at www.ilo.org/​ wcmsp5/​ groups/​public/​–​dgreports/​–​dcomm/​documents/​briefingnote/​ wcms_​743146.pdf. Deshingkar, Priya. 2020. “Why India’s Migrants Deserve a Better Deal.” Retrieved May 29, 2020. Available at www.livemint.

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com/ ​ n ews/ ​ i ndia/​ w hy-​ i ndia-​ s -​ m igrants-​ d eserve-​ a -​ b etter-​ d eal-​ 11589818749274.html. Kerwin, Donald, Alulema, Daniela, Nicholson, Michael, and Warren, Robert. 2020. “US Foreign-​Born Essential Workers by Status and State, and the Global Pandemic.” Centre for Migration Studies. Retrieved May 24, 2020. Available at https://​cmsny.org/​publications/​us-​essential-​workers/​. Levitt, Larry, Schwartz, Karyn, and Lopez, Eric. 2020. “Estimated Cost of Treating the Uninsured Hospitalized with COVID-​19.” KFF. Retrieved May 26, 2020. Available at www.kff.org/​ uninsured/​ issue-​brief/​estimated-​cost-​of-​treating-​the-​uninsured-​hospitalized-​ with-​COVID-​19. “Migrants and the COVID-​19 Pandemic: An Initial Analysis.” 2020. IOM. Retrieved May 26, 2020. Available at https://​environmentalmigration.iom.int/​migrants-​and-​COVID-​19-​pandemic-​initial-​analysis. Moroz, Harry Edmund, Shrestha, Maheshwor, and Testaverde, Mauro. 2020. “Potential Responses to the COVID-​19 Outbreak in Support of Migrant Workers.” World Bank Group. Retrieved June 19, 2020. Available at http://​ documents1.worldbank.org/​ curated/​en/​428451587390154689/​pdf/​Potential-​Responses-​to-​ the-​COVID-​19-​Outbreak-​in-​Support-​of-​Migrant-​Workers-​June-​ 19–​2020.pdf.

About the Authors

Reema Sen, PhD Research Associate, Department of Sociology, Case Western Reserve University, USA; BA (Honors), English Literature, Presidency University, Kolkata; MBA, Human Resources Management, XLRI Xavier School of Management, India; MSc, Criminology & Human Rights, London School of Economics, UK. Reema Sen’s research interests span social justice, gender, health, diversity, and organizational studies. A member of various sociological associations and previously adjunct faculty at the University of Hong Kong and Raffles Institute, she has held senior leadership roles in nonprofit, financial services, and consulting organizations. Reema Sen has worked on projects in 25 countries and was recently awarded the Eva L. Pancoast award for research in India. Brian Gran, Professor, Department of Sociology, School of Law and Mandel School of Applied Social Sciences, Case Western Reserve University; Robert Wood Johnson Scholar in Health Policy Research, Yale University; PhD Sociology,

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Northwestern University; Member of the 2019 Program Committee of the American Sociological Association, and Chair of the ASA Human Rights Section, among others. Brian Gran serves on review panels for the Fulbright Commission, the Boren Fellowship program, and the National Science Foundation. He is Jefferson Science Fellow at the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering, and Medicine, 2020–​21.

8 Food Insecurity and COVID-​19 Ninette Rothmüller The Problem

The outbreak of the COVID-​ 19 pandemic caused a significant increase in the number of people who experience food insecurity and hunger worldwide. Simultaneously, new solidarity alliances have emerged to bridge the gap between food destined to be wasted and the rising need. Hunger is life-​ threatening. In 1948 the United Nations General Assembly first recognized the right to food as a universal human right. The current pandemic deepens the global hunger crisis, thereby jeopardizing much more than the right to food. The European Food Banks Federation, together with other institutions, reported in May 2020 that organizations such as food pantries and food banks will not be able to fight the hunger crisis caused by COVID-​19 by themselves. Without immediate action, the United Nations emphasized that the pandemic will lead to a global food emergency. Hunger and food insecurity are not new phenomena. From an individual to a global level, the problem of food insecurity covers a wide spectrum. It can range from:  (a) seemingly insignificant family food practices, such as the “Coolest Mom at School” plastic sandwich and fruit cutters (as advertised and sold on Amazon US for $24 per set) to (b) the fact that according to the United Nations 25,000 humans, of whom more than 10,000 are children, die from hunger and hunger-​ related effects each day. In June 2020, 822 million people were undernourished worldwide, 60 percent of whom were female. Due to the consequences of the current pandemic on food chains, the World Food Programme estimates that 87

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by December 2020 an additional 130 million humans are expected to be exposed to famine. Hunger is pandemic. Even before the outbreak of COVID-​ 19, one-​ third of all food produced worldwide was lost or wasted. Annually this amounts to 1.3 billion tons of food. This amount could feed every hungry person in this world. If wasted food was a country, it would be the third principal producer of carbon dioxide worldwide. Food waste increased dramatically during COVID-​19. This intensifies the global climate crisis. On an individual level, the food crisis caused by the pandemic can heighten the awareness of questions such as:  What happens to the cut off bread crusts created by sandwich cutters? What are the family food practices that demonstrate wastefulness? During a health crisis such as the COVID-​19 pandemic, humans need to adapt their habits. However, to be wasteful is a learned behavior that decreases food habit adaptability (which is also a crucial skill for health maintenance during the pandemic) and adds to the problem that spans from families’ tables to landfills to millions dying of hunger. The experience of hunger is often connected to the exposure to other forms of injustice. According to the World Food Programme, the price of the Amazon sandwich cutters equals the amount currently needed to feed one child for one month. As much as the advertising for crust cutters is gendered (“coolest mom”), so is hunger. Women are more likely to be exposed to hunger and they are more likely to be unprotected against the intersectional effects of the pandemic. The experience of hunger intersects with other factors that threaten the lives of individuals, such as violence exposure, as research by Chilton et al suggests for the US. Why does any of this matter to how we frame the problem of food insecurity during COVID-​ 19? COVID-​ 19 is an “intersectional” virus. It increases interconnected injustices, such as gender inequality, violence exposure, or employment instability. However, it also amplifies the visibility of such injustices and can foster food awareness from an individual to a global level. Such awareness is a resource for change.

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Research Evidence Food Insecurity and Food Services

As of July 2020, measures taken to control the spread of COVID-​ 19, ranging from border restrictions to social distancing guidelines, have severely affected global food supply chains and impacted access to and distribution of food. Consequently, it has created “a crisis within a crisis,” according to UN reports. Already in April 2020, the largest German food pantry, Tafel, and the Italian food service provider, Italian Worker’s Club, announced that individual and national actions, such as hoarding and social distancing rules, had affected how much food was available to food banks and decreased the number of volunteer services these organizations could provide. Worldwide, food banks have been forced to close or offer limited services. In Germany, before the pandemic caused increased food insecurity, approximately 1.65 million people accessed food via one of the 949 Tafel food pantries. However, by April 2, 2020 half of all German food pantries under the Tafel label had stopped their work. In the US, Feeding America stated that more than 54 million people are expected to struggle with hunger in 2020 in the US alone. This is an increase of 17 million compared to 2018. By July 6, the Kansas National Guard had packaged almost five million meals subbing for volunteers. In Germany, new alliances, such as collaborations between sports clubs and Tafel, bridged the gap between food needs and service availability. Consequences of Interrupted Food Chains in Developing Countries and for the Climate Crisis

Some countries do not have the internal structural resources to continue food provisions. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization warned that although it is specifically worried about the impact of the COVID-​19 pandemic on regions in the African continent, it is crucial to understand that no country or region is immune from the food insecurity caused by COVID-​19. The pandemic will worsen the effect

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of conflicts, climate crisis, and natural disasters. On July 8, 2020 the World Bank described how price drops, for example for crops (which are an important source of rural income in developing countries), are related to the slowing of global demand and interrupted food chains. In June 2020 the United Nations expected the economic shock caused by the pandemic to affect approximately two billion rural producers and farm workers. Women represented two-​thirds of the 600 million impoverished livestock farmers globally and 43 percent of the agricultural labor force in developing countries, mostly farming plants that are not climate crisis adaptive. During the pandemic, the growing mountain of food waste worldwide provides stark images that speak to the limited access to food for disadvantaged populations. Moreover, the World Economic Forum emphasizes that decay and decomposition caused both by the excess food wasted and the carcasses of euthanized animals during COVID-​ 19 will produce an increased amount of methane, which is a greenhouse gas. In consequence, the UN warns that methane levels could rise abruptly. Families, COVID-​19, and  Food

In the US, in June 2020 the Hamilton Project reported that 40.9 percent of mothers with children aged 12 and under had been found to have experienced food insecurity since the outbreak of the pandemic, compared to 15.1 percent in 2018. On May 7, the Heinz Lohmann Foundation in Germany released research that showed a surge in interest for healthy food that boosts the immune system. There is also preliminary evidence that the current pandemic provides a chance for families to (re-​)learn food habits. This includes children learning to develop a healthy relationship with food, including food that cultural and social practices and food-​ marketing frame as undesirable, such as bread crusts. Started in March 2020, a large-​scale study titled “The Corona Cooking Survey,” led by the University of Antwerp in Belgium, brought together teams in 40 countries. The study strives to pave the way for governments and health services worldwide to improve families’ food literacy. It researches both cooking

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and eating habits during COVID-​19. In April 2020 Dr Ruth Wallace, a member of the Australian team, reported that preliminary data suggest that some people engage more with cooking from scratch as well as eating together as a family more. The interim results from the Belgiam team support this finding and show that an increased desire for salty and fat food during the pandemic results in people in many countries baking at home; in turn enhancing people’s food literacy and crisis-​adaption skills.

Recommendations and Solutions

The pandemic has catastrophically increased global food insecurity. The word Pándēmos combines the Greek word pán, translating as “all,” with the word dēmos, which translates as “people.” The pandemic thus concerns all people. The word catastrophe arises from the Greek katastrophē (katastrephein), which translates as “to overturn.” Thus, all people are needed to “overturn” this hunger catastrophe. Everyone can participate and push solutions forward. The solutions offered in the following section suggest changes on many levels: individuals and small social units; institutions and countries; and globally. Providing recommendations on various action levels will increase agency and enable:  (a) an understanding of how everyone’s contribution in combating food insecurity matters; and (b) facilitate an understanding that global action is needed in parallel with action on an individual and/​or regional level. Recommendations and Solutions on an Individual Level Use and Know Food

With variations, due to access limitations, the COVID-​19 pandemic has increased people’s attention to food worldwide, increased food literacy across generations, and triggered food habit changes, such as cooking more and wasting less. Studies suggest that habit changes on average take 66 days to manifest. By July 2020, changes in access to food have impacted food habits for far more than 66 days for many people. Preliminary

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research results imply that during COVID-​19 people waste less and, on average, prepare and eat together more and eat healthier. This development should not be an underestimated opportunity. Food justice grassroot changes can start in everyone’s kitchen, promising to radiate out to create effective and long-​lasting social and environmental change. Reducing food waste is one of the UN Sustainable Development Goals set to be achieved before 2030. It is also a crucial tool for the bold goals of the Paris Climate Agreement. Reaching these goals starts with the individual. UNICEF and the German federal environment agency, among others, recommend the following steps be taken on an individual level. They include, but are not limited to: • Make cooking and eating a profound part of your (family) routine. • Buy only as much as you need and use apps to learn how to use leftovers. • Become knowledgeable about how to best store various foods. • Limit the use of highly processed foods and food packed in aluminum or plastic, such as single-​serve coffee pods. • Reassess the food-​justice contribution of your diet and start modeling how to eat healthy and resourcefully by consuming local and seasonal food and by avoiding food with a high-​carbon footprint, such as meat, cheese, and eggs. • Inform yourself about which foods increase environmental destruction (such as soy) and use alternatives to these foods. • Learn which food services, such as food banks, are available in your neighborhood, so that you can provide this information to those in need and participate, for example by donating food. • Trust your senses more than the “best by” date on packaged foods. • After COVID-​19 maintain these new food habits that increase food equality and encourage others to do so.

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Recommendations and Solutions on the Regional and National Levels Increase Visibility and Collaborative, Inclusive Action

The regional level is the “location” where individual and global actions “meet” and can be moved forward through accessible institutional, communal, or national actions. In the current pandemic, this level presents an “opening for an overhaul,” Inside Climate News emphasizes. A lack of leadership capacity on climate resiliency, caused by the pandemic, provides a new opening for experiential collaborations between local actors, activists, advocacy groups, lawmakers, and (transdisciplinary) researchers. Collaboratively, these actors can increase a range of novel efforts, that are less exposed to economic interests and bureaucratic hurdles. They can strive to develop and implement both instantaneous and sustainable tools that could meet the challenge of creating agriculture and food production practices able to withstand and respond to erratic and shifting crises, such as the pandemic, as well as changing climatic conditions. Such collaborations could lead to solution-​oriented actions on a regional and/​or national level, such as: • Increasing access to locally-​ grown foods for food-​ insecure populations by promoting safe (community) gardening projects during COVID-​19, incorporating reciprocal learner empowerment that increases food literacy and climate responsive farming literacy and sustainability leadership. • Starting or engaging in remote and place-​based learning experiences by conducting a food security assessment in local communities. Drawing upon the knowledge of underutilized actors, such as food pantry volunteers, the majority of whom had to interrupt their volunteer services during COVID-​19 and thus may have the time to share their knowledge with research teams. The pandemic highlighted deficiencies in global and local food system such as the role of minority communities and people of color in food production chains. Such inadequacies

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can now be exposed to fast-​track solutions and also create sustainable change across institutionalized food systems beyond city and country borders. On a regional and national level, the COVID-​ 19 pandemic enables discussions about whether a highly mechanized, industrial approach to food security is capable of sustaining future challenges. It is crucial to keep this discussion going and to make space for inventive and ambitious ideas that challenge corporate-​led, mezzo-​level agendas. Diversity, both within the discussion and the participants involved, regarding sustainable farming management and plant development, is a key to addressing food insecurity inclusively and sustainably in the future. This means that small farmers and farming collectives need to become full participants in the development of mezzo-​ level projects regarding climate-​just and crisis-​adaptive food security, food governance, food policymaking, and local biodiversity research projects. Transfer Virtual Skills

In June 2020 Microsoft predicted that a digital transformation caused by the social distancing rules during the pandemic will produce 324,000 new jobs in food production. That month Microsoft and LinkedIn Learning paired to launch a nine-​ month, free of charge, video-​based learning program aligned with ten tech-​based, in-​demand working skills, such as data analyst and project manager. While this training opportunity is limited to literate persons who have access to the internet, it is available in four languages that reach more than a billion people worldwide. Increasing food security during and after the pandemic will be contingent on similarly fast, accessible, and secure communication processes and on the ability of communities, food pantries, farmers’ collectives, and other groups to present facts, challenges, and propose solutions in an inclusive and accessible manner across and beyond languages, such as by including visuals and graphs. Although the tools that Microsoft makes available might be politically debatable, it seems crucial to access these tools and thus gain technical literacy. These tools facilitate the ability to display and explain food insecurity using virtual and technical skill sets. Already the pandemic has caused an increase in virtual and visual

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literacy. This can support food justice work across borders, geographical distances, and help overcome disciplinary and language barriers, for example it could facilitate image-​based education in the area of climate responsive farming. Recommendations and Solutions on an International and Global Level Change Food Donation Governance

Research emphasizes that national and international food donation governance needs to be reviewed to increase the access to the right to food for humans. In June 2020, Professor Emily Broad Leib from the Harvard Law School explained how government agencies across borders review the six areas that govern food donation. These are: food safety, date labeling, liability concerns, tax incentives and barriers, government grants or incentives, and food waste penalties or food donation requirements. The international study, “The Global Food Donation Policy Atlas,” emphasizes how, with geographical variations, all six areas affect the creation of food donation obstacles and documents these for 15 countries. “The Global Food Donation Policy Atlas” can thus become a vital tool for combating hunger and preventing food waste by delivering expertise, directing supplies, and distributing knowledge across borders and food insecurity levels, all of which are crucial areas for action to combating food insecurity on a governance level. Food safety rules cannot continue to vary from state to state and from town to town or else it will continue to be impossible for large businesses to successfully standardize their food donation programs toward surplus production reaching the hungry. De-​gender and De-​victimize Food Production

The development of a global strategy for building resilience and handling risks in the world’s food supply is needed, along with a streamlined agenda to tackle the challenge of feeding a global population on a planet experiencing a climate crisis. This strategy has to address climate resilience, food security, and gender equality, and thus overturn traditional values that support prevailing economic models that reinforce

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male-​ centered agricultural and food production systems. Consequently, food systems need to be redesigned on a global (and a local) level to meet societal goals for environment, livelihood, and nutrition. It is essential to increase planning between rural and global actors and the practical implementation needs to be monitored through both local authorities and independent external review entities. Worldwide, the crucial role of women as transformative agents in food habit and agricultural adaption has to be empowered rather than reduced by characterizing their identity as “vulnerable groups.” As much as emergency help is needed, the support of sustainable food projects that are responsive to health and climate crisis is even more essential. In turn, country and community administrations must be enabled to sustainably manage natural resources. In addition, applying agricultural knowledge from within is central to capacity building on the utilization of climate-​resilient foods, labor and energy-​saving technologies, and appropriate water, sanitation, and hygiene interventions. In conclusion, this brief chapter can only provide partial insights and select recommendations. However, this chapter covered the issue of food insecurity broadly in order to offer various “seeds” for readers to pick up and work with toward fighting hunger both during and after COVID-​19.

Key Resources CARE. 2019. “Gender-​ Transformative Adaptation. From Good Practice to Better Policy.” Reliefweb. Retrieved July 29, 2020. Available at https://​reliefweb.int/​report/​world/​ gender-​transformative-​adaptation-​good-​practice-​better-​policy. The Corona Cooking Survey. n.d. The University of Antwerp. Retrieved July 29, 2020. Available at www.uantwerpen.be/​en/​projects/​food-​ media-​society/​corona-​cooking-​survey. Di Renzo, L., Gualtieri, P., and Pivari, F., et al. 2020. “Eating Habits and Lifestyle Changes during COVID-​ 19 Lockdown:  An Italian Survey.” Journal of Translational Medicine, 18(229). https://​doi. org/​10.1186/​s12967-​020-​02399-​5 Global Foodbanking Network. 2020. “The COVID-​19 Pandemic is Deepening the Hunger Crisis. Food Banks Can’t Do It Alone.” Retrieved July 29, 2020. Available at www.foodbanking.org/​ international-​call-​to-​action-​food-​banks-​cant-​do-​it-​alone.

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The Hamilton Project. 2020. “Blog Post: The COVID-​19 Crisis Has Already Left Too Many Children Hungry in America.” May 6. Retrieved July 29, 2020. Available at www.hamiltonproject.org/​ blog/​the_​covid_​19_​crisis_​has_​already_​left_​too_​many_​children_​ hungry_​in_​america. Harvard Law School FLPC and the Global FoodBanking Network. n.d. “Global Food Donation Policy Atlas.” Retrieved July 28, 2020. Available at www.chlpi.org/​wp-​content/​uploads/​2013/​12/​ Global-​Food-​Donation-​Policy-​Atlas_​1-​pager.pdf. International Food Information Council. 2020. “2020 Food & Health Survey.” June 10. Retrieved July 29, 2020. Available at https://​ foodinsight.org/​2020-​food-​and-​health-​survey. Smith, Brad. 2020. “Microsoft Launches Initiative to Help 25 Million People Worldwide Acquire the Digital Skills Needed in a COVID-​19 Economy.” June 30. Retrieved July 29, 2020. Available at https://​ blogs.microsoft.com/ ​ b log/ ​ 2 020/ ​ 0 6/ ​ 3 0/ ​ m icrosoft-​ l aunches-​ initiative-​to-​help-​25-​million-​people-​worldwide-​acquire-​the-​digital-​ skills-​needed-​in-​a-​covid-​19-​economy. United Nations. 2020. “Policy Brief:  The Impact of COVID-​19 on Food Security and Nutrition.” June 2020. Retrieved July 28, 2020. Available at https://​reliefweb.int/​report/​world/​policy-​brief-​ impact-​covid-​19-​food-​security-​and-​nutrition-​june-​2020. The World Counts. 2020. “Global Challenges. People Who Died from Hunger. In the World. This Year.” Retrieved July 29, 2020. Available at www.theworldcounts.com/​challenges/​people-​and-​poverty/​ hunger-​and-​obesity/​how-​many-​people-​die-​from-​hunger-​each-​year.

About the Author

Ninette Rothmüller, solidarity researcher and artist, is a visiting research scholar from Germany in the PhD program in Sociology at the Graduate Center at the City University of New York (CUNY). With a background in Cultural Studies, Social Work, and Interdisciplinary Arts, her practice-​led and theoretical work is concerned with who humans are to, and with, each other under various circumstances, such as severe crisis.

9 Protecting Refugee Health and Human Rights in the Context of the COVID-​19 Pandemic Challenges and Pathways to Justice Alex Otieno The Problem

According to the 2020 annual Global Trends report of the United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR), an unprecedented 79.5 million people (1 percent of humanity or one in every 97 people), was displaced, to another country or elsewhere in their country, by conflict, persecution, or events seriously disturbing public order in 2019. The report also demonstrated that the growth of the problem has outstripped solutions, as few of those displaced are able to return to their home country. In the 1990s, an average of 1.5 million refugees were able to return home each year while over the past decade that number has fallen to around 385,000, an indication that refugee status has become a persistent social problem that is becoming exacerbated by COVID-​ 19 pandemic-​ related international travel restrictions. Recent reports by UNHCR, the UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR), the World Health Organization (WHO), and the UN Secretary-​General António Guterres have observed that forced migrants encounter crowded conditions where healthcare, water, and sanitation are often hard to find, and noted that because it is impossible to maintain physical distancing, refugees and asylum-​ seekers may be especially vulnerable given that COVID-​19 is a health crisis. The current refugee laws and policies arose from situations following World War II and the refugee crises of the interwar 99

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years preceding it. For example, Article 14(1) of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR), adopted by the UN General Assembly (UNGA) in 1948, guarantees the right to seek asylum in other countries. More recently, refugee health was acknowledged in the Global Compact on Refugees (GCR), adopted by the UNGA on December 17, 2018, after two years of extensive consultations led by UNHCR with member states, international organizations, refugees, civil society, the private sector, and experts. The GCR provides a framework that enhances predictability, equity in responsibility-​ sharing, and recognition of international cooperation as keys to achieving sustainable solutions to refugee situations. Increasingly harsh migration policies and border closures in response to COVID-​19 have trapped people facing persecution and human rights violations and prevented them from seeking asylum. Additionally, lack of pandemic preparedness is noted to have adverse impact on refugees and asylum-​ seekers living in camps and urban situations, thereby increasing their vulnerability and weakening systems of protection for those fleeing from threats to their lives. Since World War II, individuals and groups fleeing persecution have been granted protection by states. Since 2015, the influx of Middle Eastern refugees into Europe and Central American refugees into the US became key policy issues. Unless the root causes of forced migration (conflict and violence, discrimination and racism) are addressed, it is conceivable that the waves of migration that were witnessed during 2017–​18—​which were noted to be the highest since the end of World War II—​might recur in the coming years and decades. This is important owing to the fact that massive movements of forced migrants have an impact on politics, economics, and culture.

Research Evidence

In early February 2020, WHO declared COVID-​19 a public health emergency, roughly one month later stating that it was a global pandemic. Several international organizations—​such as OHCHR, the International Organization of Migration,

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and the UN refugee agency—​followed suit after WHO in describing COVID-​19 as a health concern. These concerns were heightened after a range of actions taken by national governments in various parts of the world were noted to have adverse impacts on refugees. They included restrictions on international border crossing and daily life aimed at controlling the spread of COVID-​19 through contact with infected persons. Such restrictions have increased refugees’ and asylum-​ seekers’ fear, poverty, marginalization, and their vulnerability to violence and premature death. Responses to COVID-​19 such as the imposition of travel restrictions, lockdowns, stay at home orders, curfews, and public health recommendations for social/​ physical distancing, sanitizing, testing, contact tracing, isolation, and quarantine are especially challenging for the safety, health, and human security of refugees and asylum-​seekers. Refugees who test positive for COVID-​19 are impeded from seeking and receiving care unless national and local authorities ensure access to necessary resources and services. A March 2020 joint press release by the OHCHR, International Organization for Migration, UNHCR, and WHO highlighted the importance of protecting the rights and health of refugees, migrants, and those stateless in response to COVID-​ 19. Recognizing the need to reduce the vulnerability of forcibly displaced people across the world, WHO and UNHCR have agreed to strengthen and advance public health services for them. The International Rescue Committee noted the heightened risk for displaced persons from the beginning of the COVID-​ 19 pandemic and in light of changes in national policies and practices in response to COVID-​19 after it was declared a pandemic. Separately, The Human Mobility and Human Rights in the COVID-​19 Pandemic—​a list of 14 principles—​was drafted by a panel of international experts assembled by the Zolberg Institute on Migration and Mobility, New School, Columbia University’s Program on Forced Migration and Health, and Cornell University’s Migration and Human Rights Program. The document has been endorsed by over 1,000 experts from across the globe.

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Discussions of refugee policy in countries such as Canada, Greece, the United Kingdom, and United States in the context of COVID-​19 have been linked to bans, exclusions, and returns. In Greece, Médecins Sans Frontières (Doctors Without Borders) reported in July that a COVID-​19 isolation center it had set up on the island of Lesbos had been forced to close, following imposition of fines by local authorities and threats of potential criminal charges related to urban planning regulations. The US, which paused refugee resettlement in March, had imposed restrictions on asylum-​ seekers and refugees prior to the ongoing COVID-​19 pandemic, issued additional restrictions, and continued a three-​ year trend of reducing the total number of refugees admissible for resettlement in 2020–​21. While under President Obama the US raised the number of refugees admitted to the US from 85,000 refugees to 110,000, under Trump it was reduced to 45,000 in 2018 to 18,000 in 2020. Responses to refugees in the context of COVID-​19 have reaffirmed old and produced some new challenges to protection of individuals, families, and groups seeking international protection from credible fear. According to the World Refugee Report (2018), of the estimated 26 million people fitting the definition of refugee provided in the 1951 Refugee Convention, 40 percent lived in “camps”—​ temporary settlements created in response to the need for “emergency assistance and shelter” along borders of countries where forced migrants seek refuge as they await appropriate/​safe conditions for returning home while 60 percent resided in densely populated urban areas and informal settlements. Both groups face overcrowding, resource limitations, and lack of capacity to prepare for and adhere to prevention and physical/​social distancing recommended in response to the COVID-​19 pandemic, while urban refugees are often unseen and unaccounted for (Lozet and Easton-​Calabria, 2020). It is paradoxical that measures taken by states to ostensibly protect public health in the context of COVID-​ 19 have jeopardized the safety, health, and human rights of refugees. Reports of responses by the US and Greek governments have revealed the intersection of refugees’ human rights in general and the principles of non-​refoulement in particular. Response

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to COVID-​19 that indiscriminately limit foreigners’ entry into a territory threaten to impede refugee protection and violate refugee rights and need to be assessed against global health recommendations and standards outlined by WHO, OHCHR, and UNHCR. Such responses may also be problematic if they fail to consider a country’s obligations to the 1961 Refugee Convention. Furthermore, refugees’ livelihoods may be negatively impacted by COVID-​ 19 containment efforts such as lockdowns (stay-​at-​home). Living situations of refugees in cities/​urban areas or camp situations may render sanitizing and social/​ physical distancing impossible because of challenges associated with acquiring food, soap, water, and other essentials. Because refugees are often marginalized, they are often not integrated into host communities and may therefore be forced to participate in “risky practices” such as collection of food and essentials from distribution or shopping centers in crowded markets. Additionally, those employed may contend with layoff and unemployment leading to a precarious life that may impact their thinking and attitudes regarding recommended public health practices. Particularities of refugees (compared to other migrants) change alongside shifts in the conditions of forced migration and host society approaches to asylum. Comparisons between responses unveiled by governments and the extent to which their pandemic response mechanisms include considerations of forced migration and conform to international norms can be examined alongside a focus on the reasons why refugees are increasing looked at with suspicion and hostility in many parts of the world.

Recommendations and Solutions

The first five months of responses to COVID-​19 pandemic have illuminated the possibilities of turning policy challenges into opportunities. While it is widely recognized that constant and continuous efforts are necessary for the promotion and protection of health and human rights of refugees and asylum-​ seekers, the need to assess and advocate for national-​level

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adherence to core principles and mitigation of threats to these principles has emerged as one of the core areas of policy development with implications for implantation during COVID-​19 and the post-​COVID-​19 policy planning. The inconsistencies of national COVID-​19 responses with international obligations pose important challenges to justice for refugees and highlight the need for institutionalization of international norms on the protection of health and human rights of asylum-​ seekers and refugees. To ensure justice, countries are called upon to: 1. Pursue humane and rights-​ based policies regarding asylum alongside border security and public health efforts, thereby protecting people who have been forced out of their home countries.   This can be accomplished by modifying and expediting application processes rather than excluding asylum-​ seekers and refugees. Asylum-​seekers’ applications can be received and processed with assistance from refugee advocacy groups that have long histories of facilitating access to services and have shown their capacities to use a range of information and communication technologies and cultural brokers in reaching displaced people. Doing this would not only ensure adherence to public health prevention recommendations for mitigating COVID-​19 but fulfill international obligations. Such a process would also contribute to integration of public health concerns when establishing and managing refugee camps and providing housing for refugees living in urban areas/​cities.  Analyses exploring the nature, causes, and consequences of the increasing numbers of refugees, the patterns of displacement, direction of, and reason for travel can inform policy responses. Variations by host country and living situations notwithstanding, UNHCR reports on refugee vulnerability have highlighted the importance of adhering to obligations on protecting refugees right to life and reducing potential harm by engaging in multi-​ sectoral action to prevent infection and facilitate access to necessary care. Modifying

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and expediting processes in the wake of COVID-​19 would enhance everyday life for refugees in the post-​ COVID-​ 19 pandemic dispensation. Such efforts can draw from and have potential for enhancing mitigation and contributing to primary, secondary, and tertiary prevention recognized by the international community in policy documents and proposals such as the Alma Ata Declaration on Primary Health and the commitment to achieve Universal Health Coverage (UHC) as part of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development. Using reports on COVID-​19 incidence, ongoing assessment, and longitudinal research, national governments would work with other entities to support regional, national, and local initiatives aimed at ensuring comprehensive and sustainable access to effective protection and care for refugees, in pursuit of international standards and by promoting transnational collaboration to facilitate efficient health promotion practice in the context of COVID-​ 19. Such efforts can draw on international norms and aspirations, such as the 1951 Refugee Convention and Option Protocols, 2018 GCR, UNHCR recommendations on international cooperation, and UHC. 2. Develop collaborative and inclusive public policy and response strategies with refugees having a place at the table as countries craft responses to COVID-​ 19 in various contexts alongside reframing the refugee health and wellbeing issues as public health concerns rather than migration and border control.  Including refugees in national COVID-​19 priorities and bringing refugees into discussions as experts of their lived experiences, and collaboration with advocates and representatives of host communities would facilitate the distillation of key challenges related to refugees and COVID-​19. Pandemic mitigation measures aimed at preventing importations of the virus including travel restrictions for non-​US citizens or permanent residents arriving have had deleterious impact on the health and human rights of refugees and asylum-​seekers facing forced displacement. This can result in individuals

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understanding these issues differently—​ shifting attitudes about refugee protection and the obligations of the state. These conversations can also focus on identifying lessons learned from recent or ongoing responses and seeking potential lessons that can be learned from inclusion/​exclusion of refugees in the COVID-​19 pandemic response in particular contexts (camps and cities and urban areas). Connecting refugees and host communities based on shared interest in health presents an opportunity for interrogating and changing the construction of refugees and asylum-​seekers as vectors of disease, thereby further enhancing a human security-​ oriented approach to refugee assimilation. Framing of refugee health and integration/​wellbeing as a concern for community leaders can “facilitate change” in policy, attitudes, and dispositions of community members. By treating refugee health and human rights as public health issues rather than a problem of migration and global flows, various stakeholders and officials can link global, regional, and national policy into their analyses thereby circumventing exclusion, marginalization, and isolation of refugees. By aligning national public health strategy with global recommendations and trends, public health practice would be driven by the independent decisions of public officials rather than political leaders. 3. Adopt dynamic policymaking processes that move with the speed of changing issues related to refugees.   While the situations of refugees in camps as varied as Cox’s Bazaar (Bangladesh), Kakuma (Kenya), Za’atari (Jordan), and Lesbos (Greece) are of concern, the UNHCR has reported that “the number of identified COVID-​19 cases amongst the Rohingya refugee population (in Bangladesh) is relatively low at just 62 cases as of 21 July.” In the context of COVID-​19 pandemic and in the post-​COVID-​19 world, refugee protection cannot be thought of in the same old way. Instead, experts, organizations that serve refugees, and governments of host communities face the challenge of generating new and/​or using existing knowledge in innovative ways in responding to questions around refugee health and

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human rights. Based on the work of engaged researchers, practitioners, and activists, national responses need to explore and highlight best practices for addressing emergency situations of refugees and asylum-​ seekers facing violations of human rights. Efforts should be based on international law and informed by public health science. They can be informed by and assessed by asking the following questions: what is their legal basis and are they necessary, based on scientific evidence, neither arbitrary nor discriminatory in application, of limited duration, respectful of human dignity, subject to review, and proportionate to achieve the public health objective of preventing the spread of COVID-​19? Focus can also be on the role of philanthropic organizations, the potential of mobilizing support from foundations, funding agencies, and think tanks in global refugee and asylum-​seeker protection discourse. These actors can contribute to new visions of global health security and the need to secure protection of forced migrants. 4. Break from utilizing anti-​ refugee and xenophobic rhetoric when discussing and implementing equal access to health services.  Breaking from the history of anti-​ immigrant, anti-​ refugee, and xenophobic attitudes and policies may offer insights into how we might change attitudes toward refugees, currently and in the future, thereby enhancing the potential for justice and human rights discourse. Doing this calls for expanding dialogues discussed earlier by engendering extensive collaborative among various constituencies. Evidence of the impact of COVID-​19 responses on refugee health and human rights and the need for effective responses to these challenges comes from narratives of refugees’ lived experiences, transnational intergovernmental institutions, nongovernmental organizations, and scholarly research. Engaging multiple actors, including connecting them with former refugees, may offer pathways for changing how the host community views refugees and asylum-​seeker protection, in general their equal access to health services in the spirit of universal health coverage.

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It is crucial that leaders and institutions identify ways to engage communication strategies (particularly social media) and participate in joint health education campaigns aimed at bringing the influence of various stakeholders in reframing refugees in the social and cultural imagination.

Key Resources Betts, Alexander, Easton-​ Calabria, Evan, and Pincock, Kate. 2020. “Refugee-​led Responses in the Fight Against COVID-​19: Building Lasting Participatory Models.” FMR, 64: 73–​75. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. 2020. “COVID-​19 in Newly Resettled Refugee Populations.” Available at www.cdc.gov/​coronavirus/​2019-​ncov/​need-​extra-​precautions/​refugee-​populations. html. Epstein, Ruthie. 2020. “One Year of Forced Return to Mexico; Three Years of Trump Dismantling the Asylum System.” Available at www. aclu.org/​news/​immigrants-​rights/​one-​year-​of-​forced-​return-​to-​ mexico-​three-​years-​of-​trump-​dismantling-​the-​asylum-​system. Guterres, Antonio and Spiegel, Paul. 2012. “World’s Refugees Adapting Health Responses to Urban Environments.” JAMA, 308(7): 673–​674. Jozaghi, Ehsan and Dahya, Azim. 2020. “Refugees, Asylum Seekers and COVID-​ 19:  Canada Needs to do More to Protect At-​ risk Refugees During the Current Pandemic.” Can J Public Health, 111(3): 413–​414. Lozet, Florence and Easton-​Calabria, Evan. 2020. “Counting Urban Refugees During COVID-​19.” FMR, 64: 79–​80. UNHCR. 2020. “Global Trends in Forced Displacement in 2019.” Available at www.unhcr.org/​globaltrends2019. UNHCR. 2020. “Key Legal Considerations on Access to Territory for Persons in Need of International Protection in the Context of the COVID-​19 Response.” Available at www.refworld.org/​docid/​ 5e7132834.html. US Department of Homeland Security. 2020. “Policy Proposal.” Federal Register, 85(132): 41201–​41219. World Health Organization, Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights, and International Organization for Migration. 2013. International Migration, Health and Human Rights. Geneva: International Organization for Migration.

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About the Author

Alex Otieno is Assistant Professor in the Sociology, Anthropology and Criminal Justice Department and the MA in International Peace and Conflict Resolution Program. His teaching, research, and writing explores issues at the intersection of health and human rights, global governance, international migration, peacebuilding, and human flourishing. His work has been published in Forced Migration Review, Peace Review, Journal of Transformative Peace Praxis, and Journal of International Communication. He is currently working on an edited volume on stories and lived experiences of migration, negotiating multiplicity of identities and belonging.

10 COVID-​19 Requires an Intersectional Feminist Policy Response Kristy Kelly There is no gender-​neutral pandemic, and this one is no different. (Phumzile Mlambo-​Ngcuka, Executive Director of UN Women)

The Problem

In times of crises, women and girls consistently suffer greater loss of life, not only in poor and low-​income countries but also in high-​income countries. They also face what have been described as “double disasters” due to increased gender-​based violence, loss of jobs and livelihoods, impaired reproductive and sexual health, and increases in forced marriages, migration, and trafficking. Women and girls struggle to be heard and rarely are in the leadership positions to make decisions that could save themselves, their families, and communities. Emerging research on the gendered impacts of COVID-​ 19 shows women at increased risk of infection as frontline workers, and they shoulder most of the carework for children, elders, and sick community members, even when men are quarantining or working from home. Simultaneously, funding for gender equality initiatives has decreased, increasing competition for the funding that remains. Minoritized women and girls are further marginalized, and as a result, gender inequality is on the rise. COVID-​ 19 is exacerbating the social inequalities and intersectional injustices upon which patriarchal institutions thrive. Despite calls to put gender equality on the backburner 111

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in the face of other concerns, times of crisis offer critical opportunities to rethink, reorganize, and subvert unequal gender configurations that are not emancipatory. A feminist response to COVID-​19 is one that endeavors not only to minimize the harmful effects of oppressive societal structures that disadvantage many women and girls, but to catalyze action that will build more equal societies for the future. By taking advantage of this opportunity to inspire change, governments and civil society leaders can initiate a process of international recovery that tackles the root causes of long-​ standing inequalities, both between people and between nations, and hence ensure that there will be greater resilience in the context of future crises. This chapter provides an overview of how COVID-​19 is exacerbating gender inequality and provides recommendations for an intersectional feminist policy response.

Research Evidence

While both women and men are likely to suffer during a pandemic, in every country, women earn less, they save less, and they are more likely to be in precarious jobs with little security or protections if they do work, or in the informal sector, with no protections at all. They make up the majority of single-​ parent households, and the majority of refugees and displaced individuals. Women have fewer resources to buffer economic shocks, and those they do have are diverted to family subsistence. What follows is a brief snapshot of the evidence on gender and COVID-​19. Gendered Division of Labor

Cultural norms about gender can influence career choices for men and women, where they spend their time, and the infectious agents they come into contact with, as well as the nature of exposure, its frequency, and its intensity. Globally, almost 70 percent of frontline health professionals and workers are women who are most exposed to infectious diseases in their roles as nurses, nurse aides, teachers, child-​care workers,

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aged-​care workers, and cleaners. Female health workers in Germany, Italy, Spain, and the United States are more than three times more likely to be exposed to COVID-​19 than their male counterparts. Even when working in the same healthcare profession, occupational segregation puts women in more client-​facing roles while men concentrate in logistics and security. Women’s risk is exacerbated when they are not included in leadership or decision-​ making positions that affect change. Women make up the majority of part-​time and informal workers. With economic activity at a halt during the pandemic, many women in the informal sector have lost their livelihoods. During the first month of the crisis, women informal workers globally lost an average of 60 percent of their income. This included an 81 percent drop in Sub-​Saharan Africa and Latin America, 70 percent in Europe and Central Asia, and 22 percent in Asia and the Pacific. Globally, 50 million women aged 25 to 34 now live in extreme poverty (living on less than $1.90 a day) compared to 40 million men. Without social protections, the COVID-​19 crisis is likely to worsen women’s poverty and reduce their lifetime earnings and savings. Gendered Carework

Globally, women shoulder between two and seven times more carework at home than men. “Carework,” valued at $10.2 trillion of the global economy, includes managing child and elder care, caring for the sick, and managing household tasks like cooking, shopping, and cleaning, all on the increase during quarantine. A recent study in France, Germany, Italy, the UK, and the United States found that working women on average do 15 hours more a week of unpaid care and domestic work compared to men. Even when men are isolating at home, women continue doing more carework. This is impacting women’s employment. Women in white-​collar occupations are more likely than men to reduce their hours or quit when carework is a burden. Academic journal editors, for example, are reporting that women have been submitting fewer peer-​ reviewed papers since March, while men are submitting up to 50 percent more than they usually would. This will

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impact long-​ term promotion and leadership opportunities and exacerbate gender inequality in higher education. It is clear that the feminized unpaid reproductive care economy is acting as an economic “shock absorber” during COVID-​19. For women living in extreme poverty, carework responsibilities include supplying the family with water, sanitation, and hygiene. In households without access, which includes 21 percent in Honduras and 99 percent in Ethiopia, for example, it is typically women who are responsible for collecting water. A study in Malawi found that women without safe drinking water in the household spend an average of 54 minutes a day collecting water, while men spend six minutes. In Bangladesh, women report feeling least safe when collecting water, and that they are spending more time collecting water to meet increased handwashing measures. In Palestine, 100 percent of women and zero men report that water is one of their primary concerns. In West Africa, women report having to choose between buying food and soap. Because men who are most often represented on COVID-​ 19 taskforces do not often see these needs, they are often not included in COVID-​19 response plans, thus exacerbating gender inequality. Gender-​Based Violence  (GBV)

Crises, including infectious disease outbreaks, reveal that women and girls experience high rates of sexual violence and abuse as a result of stay-​at-​home orders and quarantines. Evidence from China indicating alarming rates of gender-​ based violence during lockdown. In Lebanon and Malaysia calls to domestic violence helplines doubled in March 2020 compared to March 2019, and in France they rose 32 percent. For women who have been planning to leave their violent husbands or families, the consequence of travel bans and city lockdowns is dire. In addition, lost income, poverty, powerlessness, and intolerance contribute to victim-​blaming, exploitation of social divisions, and government deployment of authority. Emerging stories of ethnic abuse, racial and caste violence, and religious discrimination are emerging worldwide, suggesting the potential for further social conflict

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and power imbalances which will negatively affect progress toward gender equality. Children, whose schools have closed, are also increasingly vulnerable at home particularly as security, health, and financial stress heighten tensions. Transgender communities are also being impacted as physical distancing policies restrict the mobility of people based on heteronormative binary constructions of gender and associated norms. For example, in Peru, Panama, and parts of Colombia, women and men are allowed to access essential services on separate days. When transgender people are not “read” by authorities as conforming to dominant gender norms, they experience direct violence. The UN Secretary General recently referred to gender-​ based violence as the “shadow pandemic” and included it as a form of violence that must stop under his call for a global ceasefire. Sexual and Reproductive Health

Shifting resources toward addressing COVID-​19 has worked to defund GBV initiatives and disrupted other key health services for women and girls, particularly reproductive and sexual health services. Pregnant women, women with disabilities, and those living far from health centers are left particularly vulnerable. This is despite women doing most of the community vector control activities. In many contexts, the current pandemic is used as a political opportunity to restrict women’s access to reproductive services by declaring them “non-​essential.” For example, the US is threatening decades of agreed human rights standards by demanding the removal of sexual and reproductive health rights language from COVID-​19 responses like the “UN’s Global Humanitarian Response Plan’s (HRP) Guidance on COVID-​19.” In other contexts, states are using COVID-​ 19 as an opportunity to augment their power and limit civil liberties and rights, particularly the rights of women and gender nonconforming people.

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Gender and Education

Women make up the majority of teachers around the world, although men are usually in charge. As schools close and turn to remote teaching, teachers face pressure to work overtime as they transfer their courses online, provide personalized instruction to increasingly isolated and anxious students (and their parents), and develop new strategies to reach those with special needs or limited internet and technology. This is in addition to often shouldering the primary responsibility at home for carework and overseeing their own children’s education. To contain the spread of COVID-​19, 193 countries have temporarily or partially closed educational services. These closures keep over 1.54 billion children and youth out of formal education, including nearly 743 million girls. Of these, over 111 million live in the world’s least developed countries, where access to education was already limited. Millions of children who relied on school meals for some or all of their daily meals, 85 million in Latin America and the Caribbean alone, now struggle to access enough food. Women are most often responsible for children’s education and food, so this is significantly adding to their caregiving burden and, consequently, decreasing their time for essential, paid work. As students, girls are more likely to be impacted when families need to make educational investment decisions. Almost 73 percent of countries have begun implementing various forms of remote learning, including online classes. Yet not all children can benefit equally from these measures. Inequalities across countries add to those within countries. Across low-​and middle-​income countries, many girls from poor households cannot participate in remote learning, since both their homes and their schools lack the required tools, skills, and technologies. In contexts where the tools are available, evidence shows that boys are more likely to have access to digital technology at younger ages, and when girls do have access, it is often curtailed by their parents. These disparities contribute to widening the gender gap in digital skills and will have long-​term effects on gender and education equality.

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Decision-​making and Leadership

Women’s socially prescribed care roles typically place them in positions to identify trends at the local level that might signal the start of an outbreak and thus improve global health security. Nevertheless, they are rarely included in national and local COVID-​19 taskforces. The World Health Organization Executive Board recognizes the need to include women in decision-​making for outbreak preparedness and response, yet there remains inadequate women’s representation in global, national, and local COVID-​ 19 policy spaces. In a recent study of national-​ level committees established to respond to COVID-​19, 74 percent had fewer than one-​third female membership, and only one committee was fully equal. On average, women made up 24 percent of the committees. Politically marginalized groups and their perspectives are further marginalized. In the European Union, for example, gender-​ transformative budgeting is overwhelmingly overlooked in favor of privileging corporate bailouts for industries where men remain overrepresented.

Recommendations and Solutions

This chapter concludes with a list of intersectional feminist policy recommendations and social actions that center gender equality particularly for marginalized communities. Put Diverse Women at the Center of COVID-​19 Leadership and Decision-​making

Promote women to global, national, and local leadership and decision-​making positions. Achieve gender parity in political appointments and diversity and intersectional representation throughout all agencies and ranks of government, companies, and civil society organizations. Ensure diverse women’s representation on COVID-​ 19 response planning and decision-​ making taskforces. In Latin America, for example, women leaders have established the “Coalition of Action for the Economic Empowerment of Women” as

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part of a whole-​of-​government effort to increase women’s participation in the post-​ pandemic economic recovery. In Cox’s Bazar, refugee camps with women leaders were more likely to have democratic processes to include women’s voices and vulnerable people in organizing COVID-​19 response. Co-​create Feminist Policies with Feminists

Women in formal decision-​ making spaces may not be advocating for women or for gender-​transformative policies, since they have varying interests and political priorities. Work with feminists (men and women) inside and outside of government and organizations, including throughout policy implementation, to co-​create feminist policy responses to the pandemic. This “co-​creation” process should not be a one-​time event but rather an iterative and reflective feedback loop that is progressively more inclusive over time—​a mechanism for ensuring women and people who face social and institutional discrimination are part of decision-​making processes through the lifecycle of program and policy design, implementation, and evaluation. Design policies to be transformative, rather than reproducing and exacerbating gender binarisms and patriarchy. This will help prevent backlash against already vulnerable communities. Canada, Mexico, Sweden, and France, for example, have adopted national-​ level feminist foreign policy responses to COVID-​19, with other countries following suit. Defend and Support Sexual Health and Reproductive Rights

Support civil society organizations who urge the international community to continue to promote a response to COVID-​19 that upholds long-​standing commitments to health, human rights, and gender equality. Canada and Malawi are the only countries to date which have increased sexual and reproductive health funding during the pandemic. Sweden has published a joint ministerial statement, “Protecting Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and Promoting Gender-​Responsiveness in the COVID-​19 Crisis,” which may serve as a model for others. Canada has announced funding

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and policy commitments for GBV prevention and response programs, as well as sexual and reproductive health services, childcare support, and funding that specifically recognizes the economic effect of the pandemic on women. Center Women-​and Gender-​focused Civil Society Organizations

Many women-​ led and women-​and gender-​ focused civil society organizations are on the frontlines as first responders and often hold community trust, critical social and cultural networks, and a vested interest in long-​term engagement and success. Listen to them and center their voices in the creation of new policy responses, funding decisions, and research related to COVID-​19. Co-​creation of models for decision-​ making that support local organizations from communities in crisis, particularly women-​led and women-​and gender-​ focused civil society organizations is essential to making sure women and girls are part of governance and leadership rather than simply subgrantees. In West Africa, women in savings groups are organizing to share information with each other, especially those who do not have access to mobile phones or the internet. They are also organizing to make and sell masks and soap, arrange for handwashing stations in towns and markets, and to keep markets open. In Palestine, women business association members were more likely to adapt their businesses to COVID-​19 realities than men were. Fund Gender Research on COVID-​19

Governments and global health institutions need to mandate and fund gender research on COVID-​ 19. They need to consider the sex and gender effects of the COVID-​ 19 outbreak, both direct and indirect, and conduct an analysis of the gendered impacts of the multiple outbreaks, incorporating the voices of women on the frontline of the response to COVID-​19 and of those most affected by the disease within preparedness and response policies or practices going forward. This includes collecting sex-​disaggregated data on all aspects of prevention, intervention, impact, and recovery. This also means mandating gender analysis as standard research

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practice. Gender analysis asks how socially constructed roles and identities affect vulnerability to and experiences of an outbreak. While the focus is on differences between women and men and between girls and boys, inequities related to race, ethnicity, sexuality, citizenship-​ status, religion, global locations, etc are integrated. In order to be effective, robust, and transparent during crises prevention, intervention, and recovery, a mandate and funding for gender research is needed. Mandate Gender-​equitable Work Policies

Pass federal and organizational policies for paid maternity, paternity, and parental leave policies, coupled with flexible working arrangements, that empower women and men in the workplace, support economic security, contribute to closing the gender pay gap, and benefit families. Prioritize return to work for women during recovery. Pass equal pay legislation. Allow for women and men working from home to manage their time so as to best balance reproductive and productive work requirements. Provide gender equality training for men and boys, and carework subsidies for those doing the burden of the work. In Togo, for example, informal workers, 65 percent of whom are women, have access to a new mobile cash-​transfer program to receive grants up to 30 percent of minimum wage. Austria, Italy, Portugal, and Slovenia have introduced a statutory right to (partially) paid leave for parents with children below a certain age. Mandate Safe Return to School Policies, Centering Women and Girls

Schools should open when it is safe for everyone to return. Until then, provide adequate resources and support to teachers and students learning from home. Educational institutions should prepare review and assignment packages for children to keep them academically engaged and prevent setbacks and provide guidance for parents on the use of the material. Create educational radio programming appropriate for school-​age children. Subsidize childcare for families unable to make alternate arrangements for their children and encourage

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men to share the burden. Expand free internet access to increase access to online educational platforms and material and enable children to participate in virtual and disability-​ accessible classroom sessions where available. Provide laptops for all children who need them in order to participate in online education. Adopt measures to ensure they continue receiving food by making sure it can be delivered or collected. Provide extra financial and mental health support for families caring for children with disabilities. Support teachers to have smaller class sizes and provide teaching resources to continue to work safely and effectively from home until it is safe for everyone to return to school.

Key Resources CARE. 2020. “Where are the Women? The Conspicuous Absence of Women in COVID-​19 Response Teams and Plans, and Why We Need Them.” Available at https://​ www.care-​ international.org/​ files/​files/​CARE_​COVID-​19-​womens-​leadership-​r eport_​June-​ 2020.pdf. Gender and COVID-​ 19 Working Group. 2020. “Gender and COVID-​ 19 Resources.” Open Access Document. Available at https://​docs.google.com/​document/​d/​1_​QfLS6Z90w_​1rPM-​ jdeKC_​lQXTcwA8Z4kF8Z5CerZrk/​edit#. Januch, Emily. 2020. “Evolving Trends: Women in COVID-​19.” CARE. Available at https://​insights.careinternational.org.uk/​media/​k2/​ attachments/​CARE_​Women-​in-​COVID-​19-​RGA-​Trends-​Update_​ July-​2020.pdf. Luntz, Kristina, Bernarding, Nina, Provan, Anna, and Werner, Sarah Kenny. 2020. Policy Brief: A Feminist Foreign Policy Response to COVID-​19. Berlin:  Centre for Feminist Foreign Policy. Available at https://​ static1.squarespace.com/​static/​57cd7cd9d482e9784e4ccc34/​t/​ 5f034a694227530712b1b4f6/ ​ 1 594051182529/ ​ P olicy+Brief_​ +A+Feminist+Foreign+Policy+Response+to+COVID-​19.pdf. Madgavkar, Anu, White, Olivia, Krishnan, Mekala, Mahajan, Deepa, and Azcue, Xavier. 2020. “COVID-​19 and Gender Equality: Countering the Regressive Effects.” McKinsey Global Institute. Available at www.mckinsey.com/​featured-​insights/​future-​of-​work/​ covid-​19-​and-​gender-​equality-​countering-​the-​regressive-​effects#. Perez-​ Brumer, Amaya, and Silva-​ Santisteban, Alfonso. 2020. “COVID-​19 Policies can Perpetuate Violence Against Transgender Communities:  Insights from Peru.” AIDS Behavior, 27:  1–​3. Available at www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/​pmc/​articles/​PMC7184069. Thompson, L., Patel, G., Kripke, G., and O’Donnell, M. 2020. Toward a Feminist Foreign Policy in the United States. Washington, DC:  International Center for Research on Women. Available at

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www.icrw.org/​ w p-​ content/​ u ploads/​ 2 020/​ 05/​FFP-​USA_​v 11-​ spreads.pdf. UN Women. 2020. Spotlight on Gender, COVID-​19 and the SDGs. New York:  UN. Available at www.unwomen.org/​-​/​media/​headquarters/​ a ttachments/ ​ s ections/ ​ l ibrar y/ ​ p ublications/ ​ 2 020/​ spotlight-​on-​gender-​covid-​19-​and-​the-​sdgs-​en.pdf?la=en&vs=5013. UN Women. 2020. Policy Brief:  Impact of COVID-​ 19 on Women (April 9, 2020). New York: UN. Available at www.unwomen.org/​ - ​ / ​ m edia/ ​ h eadquarters/​ a ttachments/​ s ections/​ l ibrary/​ p ublications/​2020/​policy-​brief-​the-​impact-​of-​covid-​19-​on-​women-​en.pdf?la=en&vs=1406. United Nations. 2020. UN’s Global Humanitarian Response Plan’s (HRP) Guidance on COVID-​19. Geneva:  UN. Available at www. un.org/​development/​desa/​ageing/​wp-​content/​uploads/​sites/​ 24/​2020/​05/​GHRP-​COVID19_​May_​Update.pdf. World Bank. 2020. “Gender Dimensions of the COVID-​19 Pandemic.” Available at https://​openknowledge.worldbank.org/​bitstream/​ handle/​10986/​33622/​Gender-​Dimensions-​of-​the-​COVID-​19-​ Pandemic.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y.

About the Author

Kristy Kelly is a sociologist specializing in gender, policy, and politics; transnational feminisms, politics of knowledge; and social change in Southeast Asia. She is Associate Clinical Professor at Drexel University and jointly affiliated with the Weatherhead East Asian Institute, Columbia University. She edits the book series Education Research in Global Contexts (Emerald) and has co-​edited two volumes on gender and practice in Advances in Gender Research (Emerald). Kristy is a founding member and current Co-​President of the Society of Gender Professionals. She received her MA and PhD from the University of Wisconsin–​Madison and her BA from Pennsylvania State University.

11 Think Piece On Values, Security, and Wellbeing under the COVID-​19 Pandemic in 2020 Tatiana Karabchuk Evolution of Values and Society in Crisis

The COVID-​19 pandemic turned into a global scale social crisis upending many spheres of society across the world: families’ income, health, education, social life, and wellbeing. Billions of people in many countries faced severe restrictions in their daily lives while threatened by the virus and its unpalatable consequences. According to the recent Human Development Report, the COVID-​19 pandemic is also unleashing a steep and unprecedented decline in human development. There are many more less visible indirect effects, including increased home violence, youth unemployment, marriage delays, reproductive postponement, etc. To fight COVID-​ 19, governments in many countries introduced unprecedented limitations of people’s mobility and announced the state of emergency. These dramatic disruptions led to the global economic crisis that urgently needs to be addressed. Countries’ leaders took exceptional actions such as enormous aid packages to families and businesses as well as healthcare systems to support their population and economies. This volume tackles many important global issues of the COVID-​19 crisis, including human trafficking, secure access to clean water, food security, transition to adulthood, labor migration crisis, poverty, disability, and gender issues. This think piece is grounded on those ideas and further develops 123

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a discussion based on human values in critical situation under cross-​national perspective. Surprisingly, societies with different cultural backgrounds and different levels of economic development reacted to the COVID-​19 in a similar way:  first by rejection of the threat of the dangerous virus by the public and by governments; then with slow interventions of government measures to ban social gatherings and set up policies for social distancing; and followed by generational differences in attitudes to comply with the mask regimes and lockdown regulations. These similar patterns of social behavior in different societies could be explained by the cultural evolution or evolutionary modernization theory of Ronald Inglehart. The theory explains that a global intergenerational value change from materialist to postmaterialist values, or from survival to self-​ expression values, occurred slowly in many developed societies since World War II. The world has experienced its longest peace period of more than 70 years, during which several generation changes happened. Societal values cannot change fast, usually it takes one or two generations to witness those changes. This cultural shift discussed in the theory means a move in peoples’ priorities from economic and physical safety and conformity to group norms, toward individual freedom to choose how to live one’s life. It took several decades for people to believe in the world’s safety and economic gradual development. In other words, to change peoples’ priorities from physical safety, food security, and economic stability, it needed the new generations to grow up without seeing the consequences of World War II and postwar harsh recovery periods. The core characteristics of modernization makes people’s life more secure. Industrial modernization brought economic and technological development that reduced poverty and starvation, and increased life expectancy. According to Human Development Reports since the 1970s, incomes and literacy rates rose considerably across the globe. At the same time, mortality, war, crime rates and violence reduced. These gradual changes toward more secure and prosperous

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conditions over the long period of time made people born in the 1970s to 2000s take security for granted. Over the last 50 years, human values and motivations were formed under the perception of secure survival in many countries. Higher levels of security allowed for increased individual free choice, openness to new ideas, and tolerance of outsiders among younger generations. As Welzel and Inglehart claim, more and more people in all parts of the world began to value increased freedom of choice, ultimately gaining more control over their lives and their societies’ agendas. The societal values are changing very slowly and the global shift from materialist values to postmaterialist values took several generations. These dominating emancipative values in current developed societies are exactly why we see people unwilling to accept the bans and restrictions on free movement, meeting relatives, social gatherings, wearing uncomfortable masks and gloves, and stay-​home orders. Moreover, these emancipative values under the condition of feeling high existential security explain the generational differences in the practice of obeying the social distancing rules during the COVID-​19 pandemic. Thus, younger generations who grew up with high levels of existential security, higher individual control of one’s life, better access to social welfare institutions, and much higher income levels than the generations of post-​ World War II, have postmaterialist values with the central importance of individual freedom of choice. However, the current COVID-​19 crisis and decrease in the economic and physical security will not have any long-​ term effect on the values. First, it should take dozens of years to change people’s priorities and habits to shift values back to more materialistic ones. There is a certain trust and confidence in medical science, which even grew up during the pandemic, as people believe that the scientists and medical institutions will find the remedies and vaccine much sooner than during the Spanish Flu (H1N1) epidemic a hundred years ago. Second, the global value change needs generations to be replaced to completely forget the current priorities for the contemporary humanity.

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At the same time, it does not mean that people’s behavior will remain completely the same as before COVID-​19. Income stability and family wellbeing would lead the development of personal motivations in societies. Moreover, the perception of this basic economic security, physical safety, and successful survival will determine human behavior.

Security and Happiness

As Inglehart argues, a society’s culture is shaped by the extent to which its people grow up feeling that survival is secure or insecure. In 2020, most generations on earth grew up taking security for granted. Suddenly, COVID-​19 threatened the economic and physical security that people are used to in their everyday lives. Their perceptions of safe survival disappeared, as many opinion polls declared that the vast majority of the countries’ populations expressed worries and fears for their health, lives of their family members, or their country’s economy. Thus, according to the recent public opinion polls, about 50 percent expressed high worries on economic and personal insecurity in Germany, a European country that is doing rather well in combating COVID-​ 19. In countries with the highest rates of infections and deaths, like the US, the share of those worries reaches almost 80 percent of the population. Evolutionary modernization theory argues that economic and physical insecurity account for the increase of xenophobia, strong in-​ group solidarity, authoritarian politics, and rigid adherence to their groups’ traditional cultural norms. This could be seen immediately in public opinion polls measuring people’s attitudes towards citizens of different countries. Chinese or Italians, for instance, were considered to be the main source of the virus spreading globally and in Europe. This ridiculous assertion peaked when some people refused to go to Chinese restaurants or to shop at businesses owned by members of various Asian ethnic groups. According to a recent Pew Research Center poll, 73 percent of US adults say they have an unfavorable view of China, and these unfavorable attitudes increased 26 percentage points since 2018. The

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researchers explained that there is a widespread sense among Americans that China mishandled the initial outbreak and subsequent spread of COVID-​19. As Inglehart, Welzel, and other scholars of evolutionary modernization theory predict, the feeling that survival is insecure leads to ethnocentric solidarity against outsiders. Indeed, during the COVID-​ 19 pandemic there are many examples of migrant workers who are experiencing difficulties due to their uncertain and insecure positions in the societies where they work. As Sen and Gran note in Chapter 7, most migrant workers were exposed to rampant institutional inequalities that contributed to their vulnerability under the global crisis due to COVID-​19. Some countries simply dismissed all the migrant workers from their lands within 15–​30 days. People lost their jobs and were forced to move to their country of origin via arranged flights. Those who managed to stay were left without any income or shelter and sometimes no money to go back home. As many low-​skilled migrants are employed without social protections, formal contracts, or workplace protections, they are often the first ones to lose jobs or to experience pay cuts, and according to the International Labor Organization (ILO), this might affect as many as 258 million international labor migrants globally. Moreover, under the perceptions of decreased security during the pandemic, migrants have often become the targets of xenophobia, racial, ethnic, or other forms of discrimination. The most vulnerable groups of unskilled migrants are those working in the periphery of the labor market doing risky work in often harsh conditions as they are being forced to risk their lives in unsanitary conditions that do not allow for social distancing, with scarce protective gear. Often these unskilled labor migrants are provided with rather poor accommodation in dormitories by the employers. The living conditions in the crowded dormitories with shared toilets do not allow for proper quarantine. Many of those unskilled and precarious workers are women and they became at particular risk of violence during the pandemic. They have limited rights in destination countries (low wages, long hours, no health insurance as domestic workers), which leaves them helpless if they contract the disease. Restriction of movement between

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borders has forced many migrants into conditions of food insecurity, homelessness, and anxiety without being able to join their families. Food security, safe water, and sanitation are other basic needs in accordance to Maslow’s pyramid for secure survival. During this pandemic they became unreliable or inaccessible to many groups of the populations in both developed and developing countries. Less developed areas of the world have higher death rates caused by diseases stemming from lackluster systems of sanitation and scarcity of clean water. According to WHO about 350 million people in 2017 had to walk more than 30 minutes to access a water service or had to use drinking water directly from rivers, lakes, and other surface water sources. Those parts of the globe have seen the fastest spread of the virus and experience the most negative consequences of the pandemic. Medical experts’ advice on handwashing and hygienic practices to prevent the spread of the virus demand safe water and sanitation. As Braun writes in Chapter 6, people without secure access to clean water experience greater vulnerability to exposure of COVID-​19, due to their limited ability to practice recommended guidelines for frequent handwashing with ample soap and water. The right to water and improved sanitation are linked to the provision of basic necessities and to the preventative mechanisms to protect personal and public health during COVID-​19. Another threat to basic human safety is food insecurity. For instance, home schooling across the world caused the loss of the five-​day-​per-​week access to basic food provided by schools for many children from poor families (see Chapter 8). Those existing inequalities in access to clean water and food speak for the importance of the global fight against poverty. As Deb and Rao wrote in Chapter 5, more than one billion people worldwide live in slums—​settlements typically characterized as areas with a lack of basic needs such as water, toilets, sewers, drainage, and adequate housing. Considering these factors, slum dwellers are the most vulnerable urban group in the COVID-​19 pandemic. People that were forced into lockdown at home under such unfavorable conditions have higher risks of contracting virus along with feelings of extremely low existential security.

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Finally, and importantly, evolutionary modernization theory explains that the possibility to make free choices is the main predictor of happiness. And happiness and life satisfaction in the long run are the main target for the successful and sustainable development of any society. The shift from survival values to self-​expression values, meaning that economic development and rising social tolerance increase the opportunities of free choice in all spheres of human life, positively affects happiness in societies. The pandemic circumstances that threaten the basic security needs of people will delay the transition from materialist to postmaterialist values in developing societies, causing a delay to human development in general. It means that the shift toward a greater tolerance of outgroups, openness to new ideas, and more egalitarian social norms will be postponed, which in turn create the constraints for general wellbeing and happiness in those regions. That will increase the differences and inequalities across the countries not only economically but also in terms of happiness levels. The COVID-​19 situation prevents people from developing self-​expression and emancipative values of postmaterialism as basic economic, physical, food, and water security conditions come under question. All in all, as we see it through the lens of the evolutionary modernization theory, pandemic creates obstacles for sustainable and gradual development of the societies causing higher inequalities.

Key Resources COVID-​19 Government Measures Dataset. 2020. Assessment Capacities Project and World Health Organization. Retrieved July 31, 2020. Available at www.acaps.org/​covid19-​government-​measures-​dataset. Estes, Richard J. 2010. “The World Social Situation:  Development Challenges at the Outset of a New Century.” Social Indicators Research, 98: 363–​402. Inglehart, Ronald. 2018. Cultural Evolution:  People’s Motivations Are Changing, and Reshaping the World. Cambridge:  Cambridge University Press. UNDP. 1994. “Human Development Report 1994: New Dimensions of Human Security.” New York. Retrieved July 31, 2020. Available at www.hdr.undp.org/​en/​content/​human-​development-​report-​1994.

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UNDP. 2006. “Human Development Report 2006:  Beyond Scarcity –​Power, Poverty and the Global Water Crisis.” New York. Retrieved July 31, 2020. Available at http://​ hdr.undp.org/​ en/​ content/​ human-​development-​report-​2006. UNDP. 2013. “Human Development Report 2013. The Rise of the South: Human Progress in a Diverse World.” New York. Retrieved July 31, 2020. Available at http://​ hdr.undp.org/​ en/​ content/​ human-​development-​report-​2013. UNDP. 2014. “Human Development Report 2014: Sustaining Human Progress –​Reducing Vulnerabilities and Building Resilience.” New York. Retrieved July 31, 2020. Available at http://​hdr.undp.org/​ en/​content/​human-​development-​report-​2014. UNDP. 2015. “Human Development Report 2015: Work for Human Development.” New York. Retrieved July 31, 2020. Available at http://​ hdr.undp.org/​en/​content/​human-​development-​report-​2015. UNDP. 2018. “2018 Statistical Update:  Human Development Indices and Indicators.” New York. Retrieved July 31, 2020. Available at http://​hdr.undp.org/​en/​content/​ human-​development-​indices-​indicators-​2018. UNDP. 2019. “Human Development Report 2019. Beyond Income, Beyond Averages, Beyond Today:  Inequalities in Human Development in the 21st Century.” New York. Retrieved July 31, 2020. Available at http://​ hdr.undp.org/​ en/​ content/​ human-​development-​report-​2019. Welzel, Christian. 2013. Freedom Rising: Human Empowerment and the Quest for Emancipation. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press. World Bank. 2020. “East Asia and Pacific in the Time of COVID-​ 19.” East Asia and Pacific Economic Update, April. World Bank, Washington, DC. Retrieved July 31, 2020. Available at https://​openknowledge.worldbank.org/​bitstream/​handle/​ 10986/​33477/​9781464815652.pdf?sequence=5&isAllowed=y. World Health Organization (WHO) and United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) Joint Management Programme (JMP). 2019. “Water, Sanitation and Hygiene in Healthcare Facilities:  Global Baseline Report 2019.” Report, New York. Retrieved July 31, 2020. Available at https://​data.unicef.org/​resources/​wash-​in-​health-​care-​facilities.

About the Author

Tatiana Karabchuk, PhD, is Associate Professor at the Department of Government and Society, College of Humanities and Social Sciences, UAE University, Al Ain, UAE; national representative for the UAE and Conference Chair at World Association for Public Opinion Research. Her research interests include labor market studies, demography, happiness, and cross-​country comparative studies in education and employment. Her articles on youth employment and

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fertility, informal employment, family values, job stability, and subjective wellbeing are published in such journals as The ANNALS of the American Academy of Political and Social Science, Journal of Happiness Studies, Current Psychology, Service Industries Journal, Journal of Labor Market Studies, and Asia-​Pacific Population Journal. She can be contacted at [email protected].

Afterword Michael Adorjan

It is hard to envision a social problem that has impacted the world so quickly, widely, and severely as the COVID-​19 pandemic. It is truly a global singularity that has affected us all in some way. The volume before this one, Social Problems in the Age of COVID-​19: Volume 1, focused on the context of the United States, while this volume expands the focus to the rest of the world. This division of conceptual labor is practical, but of course a pandemic is a social problem without borders, and its presence in any part of the world bears implications for the rest. To one degree or another, whether directly or indirectly, we have all suffered from COVID-​19, but not to the same extent and with the same degree of consequence. Indeed, as many of the chapters in these two volumes indicate, the pandemic has deepened and entrenched existing inequalities. Some of us have suffered (and recovered) from the illness. Some of us have lost loved ones, close friends, and colleagues. Others have lost their job or face new challenges in a workplace that has suddenly become a zone of heightened risk of contagion, including those working at supermarkets, first responders, and those delivering essential goods and services across borders otherwise closed to the public at large, among others. An enormous number of people have had their work–​life routines overturned, with children suddenly joining parents in quarantine at home, schools and daycares—​where available—​shut down or services greatly reduced, and many shifting to online connectivity for their work where possible. Even for those who are relatively less directly affected, the mental health impacts that are emerging in the wake of this pandemic are not easy to dismiss. I’m thinking here of social interactions and processes we often take for granted, but which look suddenly quite different, like dating, going with 133

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friends to see a movie, or being able to be physically close to those we are in a relationship with but may be currently separated from. Yet with this said, taking a sociological, wide-​angle view, it is clear that there are preexisting structural inequalities that differently pattern our risk and susceptibility to COVID-​19. Depending on where we live, those who possess privilege (with respect to economic and social capital and related resources) are able to pre-​empt risk simply by virtue of their socioeconomic location in society. While we may live in a “risk society,” class, and capitalism, still structures our exposure and susceptibility to risk. Both this and the preceding volume place a great deal of attention on the negative impacts of neoliberalism. This refers to a both contemporary market-​ driven logic of governance and economic restructuring, as much as it is a moral and behavioral framework of action—​a “toolkit” from which we draw upon in our present culture. In my view one of the most impactful and intractable aspects of neoliberalism is the way in which its narrative of individualism steers not only our actions but our very sense of self in relation to our society. Central here is an overriding emphasis on the individual as the first and last stop in effective response to social problems. Under this system, responsibility is vested primarily in the individual to remedy problems in their lives, and in so doing, wider social problems are themselves attended to and ultimately ameliorated. The solution is ultimately shored up as “buck up and work hard” and things will work themselves out. Of course, attention needs to be paid to the various degrees of emphasis neoliberal narratives play in particular nations, particular regions, and particular social groups, as there is no monolithic “neoliberalism” that lords over us all. That said, it is difficult to avoid the conclusion that it is in the United States where neoliberal narratives emphasizing individual responses to social problems and atomistic thinking reigns. This aligns well with the American dream itself, with its narrative emphasis on rugged (if not hypermasculine) individualism, hard work, and personal freedoms. This narrative is appealing, since, when faced with so much precarity, uncertainty, and anxiety about what we cannot control, we rest faith on what

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we seem to have the most control over—​our physical bodies and our personal, embodied responses to the external world. There is also something genuinely inspirational about the individual who chooses, in the face of challenges seemingly insurmountable, to intentionally “go high” when others “go low,” and inspiring others to do likewise. Yet sociology warns us of the risks in not fostering a sociological imagination about self, society, and the social problems we face collectively. Too much emphasis on individualism reinforces a facile bifurcation of “me” and “you”; of “us” versus “them”; a bifurcation which reinforces a zero-​sum game. C. Wright Mills’s still prescient notion of the sociological imagination is crucial to challenge such bifurcated logic and effectively confront social problems such as pandemics. The links between our “personal troubles of milieu” and “the public issues of social structure” are greatly obfuscated by a singular focus on atomistic lenses of action. Part of the challenge is in connecting broader historical and social structural connections—​often those more impersonal to us—​with those more intimate aspects of our personal lives. When COVID-​19 began to infiltrate the United States, it is this narrative of hyper-​neoliberalism that led to, as of this writing, a range of inept responses that have not only failed to “flatten the curve” of the virus when compared with other nations, but exacerbated social, economic, and political divides (including especially racial and ethnic divisions). A proposed solution such as wearing a mask and keeping a reasonable distance may be interpreted as practical and effective advice from political leaders in nations where individuals see themselves, more or less, as responsible to and for others. Such a solution may, alternatively, be seen as an infringement on constitutionally protected personal liberties, where “the other” is at best an afterthought next to the needs of the individual. I am not suggesting that these problems are germane only in the United States, and indeed this volume illuminates how these issues are salient internationally. In my own experiences the last few months residing in Alberta, Canada, I have seen frequent instances of individuals not adhering to the advice to “social distance” or wear masks; parents ignoring barriers on closed playgrounds to permit their children some play time, and so forth—​all of

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these are forms of personal risk assessment which undercut the wider community in its calculus. Existing infrastructural supports such as the extent of unionization of labor, universal healthcare, and social welfare supports play crucial roles in projecting how a nation state is able to respond to an unexpected crisis such as this pandemic. In the United States, effective responses to COVID-​19 have been further complicated by a lack of universal healthcare, with individuals who are unable afford testing being turned away from receiving critical treatment, likely exacerbating community spread of the virus. It is already well established that African Americans are much more severely impacted by the virus than White Americans; a situation that recalls sociological observations of the fallout of the flooding of New Orleans in 2005; here on a national scale. While COVID-​19 has thus introduced a new threat, a new social problem, its more insidious impacts relate to comorbid and long-​ standing social problems that now face greater challenges:  immigration patterns and policies, mass incarceration, food security, poverty, racism, sexism, homophobia, digital divide, among many others. The rich continue to get richer and the poor not only get prison but are now bearing the brunt of the pandemic. Not to be underestimated in how social problems such as COVID-​19 are understood and responded to is the role of information communications technologies, especially social network sites such as Facebook, Twitter, and those more popular among young people (Instagram, Snapchat, and increasingly—​including for political activism—​TikTok). Long-​standing discord over issues may become emboldened and entrenched online, and though there is debate about the impact of social media “echo chambers,” new concerns related to “fake news,” including misinformation, disinformation, and other forms of online manipulation have emerged and are generating new concerns. A sociological imagination regarding the role that social media plays in our lives is essential in understanding and appreciating how individuals are caught in wider political and technological processes which are steering their behavior. Neoliberal logics would rest responsibility on the individual for resolving problems such as “fake news” online (for instance, regarding conspiracy

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theories widely circulating about COVID-​19), and attaining knowledge from a wide array of information sources. Indeed, neoliberal thinking is evident in proposals to individuals who are struggling with their engagement with technologies to simply “turn off the phone” or not use social network sites altogether. Some individuals can do this, but the wider social problems remain. Neoliberal logics produce a blind spot to the wider structural issues that incentivize us to continually check our social media feeds; corporate interests in holding our attention under an attention economy; algorithms baked into the software we run that attunes itself to our personal choices and desires; the role of panoptic surveillance in steering our behaviors and even our thoughts and emotions. Who, after all, reads the terms and conditions presented to us before using a new application on our phones? My aim here is not to blame technology; after all, there is much to herald about our ability to connect online, commune with each other virtually during this pandemic, and seek emotional, social, and financial support—​all facilitated by modern information communications technologies. Rather, I argue that we need more explicit attention to the links between our personal use of these technologies and the wider structural domains that mediate them, impacting our lives both online and offline. Not too long ago, I was conducting an interview with a parent, discussing issues related to parental concerns about raising children given the challenges of technologies such as social network sites, smartphones, and so forth. The discussion frequently centered on youth and “online addiction,” and also surveillance and corporate interests in surveillance. At one point I made a passing comment about the types of “disinformation” available online, and used the example of “anti-​ vaxxers” (ie individuals skeptical of the safety and effectiveness of vaccinations for themselves and, most controversially, their children). The parent admitted to having a degree of sympathy toward such “inclinations” in the past, including toward vaccination, which, he explained, were related to wider concerns he held regarding big pharmaceutical corporations. This exchange resonated with me. Personally, I disagree, quite strongly in fact, with not having your children vaccinated. A recent Canadian survey I completed, distributed

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by the federal government, asked about anxieties about receiving a future vaccine for COVID-​19, which indicates that the issue of vaccine skepticism may be very much amplified and exacerbated as the pandemic continues (see also the chapter by Bulanda and colleagues in volume 1). That said, I did empathize with this parent’s skepticism directed at “big pharma” and the corporate interests embroiled in medicine; interests that often place profit motives ahead of patient wellbeing and health. While I still strongly disagree with the actions taken by some who oppose vaccination, it is nevertheless a crucial step toward effective responses to social problems to understand understandings; to empathize (different from sympathizing) and develop better ways to communicate with each other. Rarely is a belief or action completely irrational, but more to the point, what seems irrational for one person often has an inner locus of rationality to another. Interpretations and responses to social problems are almost invariably embroiled in emotions, where “truth” becomes linked to emotional, rather than rational or logical, resonance. This creates great challenges for communication, and as I have noted, exacerbating these challenges further are the echo chambers and algorithmically influenced communications online, especially on social media, where truth is often contested. Consider this: most of what is written here (by myself and in these two volumes as a whole) may resonate well with some audiences, and be dismissed as “alternative facts” by others. In many respects these two volumes dedicated to examining COVID-​19 indicate efforts to reach out to audiences wider than academia. They are efforts at public sociology—​efforts invested to instill a sociological imagination about social problems toward particular publics (Burawoy, 2005). We need to explore ways to communicate better. Use of humor, reintegrative shaming through memes (as opposed to more directly invective forms of meme responses), performance art, music, and even emotion, can be but a few experimental methods of communication to help bridge networks, which in many cases are either in disrepair or broken. One of the striking silver linings of this pandemic has been the very rapid environmental changes in response to a lack of human

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influence. The (likely temporary) reversal of our role in this Anthropocene (the proposed geological era we live in, the first of its kind, where human existence has become the most influential factor impacting climate and the environment) seems an evident reality when, only a few weeks after most of the world entered quarantine, skylines formerly obscured by pollution became visible and species of animals returned to habitats long abandoned, among other amazing sights. Reading news of such things, a relative of mine commented that, surely, those who denied climate change, at least humans’ impact upon it, would have to re-​ evaluate and reflect upon what we are witnessing. I would have loved to agree, but in our post-​truth paradigm seeing is not believing; feeling is. Generating effective responses to these problems requires us to foster the value of a sociological imagination with the various publics we serve as researchers, citizens, and community members. Fostering a sociological imagination is not just about connecting the personal to the public, the micro with the macro; it is also to see ourselves in others, and others in ourselves. We need social movements and activism that are not only aware of these challenges but find purpose through empathic communication and building inclusive networks of shared meanings—​ meanings that we decide, together, are invaluable and worth striving for.

Key Resources Beck, Ulrich. 1992. Risk Society:  Towards a New Modernity. London: Sage Publications. Beer, David. 2017. “The Social Power of Algorithms.” Information, Communication & Society, 20(1): 1–​13. Brenner, Neil, Peck, Jamie, and Theodore, Nik. 2010. “Variegated Neoliberalization:  Geographies, Modalities, Pathways.” Global Networks, 10(2): 182–​222. Bulanda, Jennifer Roebuck, Fry, Shelby, and Thompson, Valerie. 2020. “Vaccine Opposition in the COVID-​19 Age.” In Social Problems in the Age of COVID-​19. Volume 1:  US Perspectives, edited by Glenn Muschert, Kristen Budd, Michelle Christian, David Lane, and Jason Smith. Bristol: Bristol University Press, pp 122–​133. Burawoy, Michael. 2005. “For Public Sociology.” American Sociological Review, 70(1): 4–​28.

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Curran, Dean. 2013. “Risk Society and the Distribution of Bads:  Theorizing Class in the Risk Society.” The British Journal of Sociology, 64(1): 44–​62. Curran, Dean. 2016. Risk, Power, and Inequality in the 21st Century. London: Palgrave Macmillan. Dennis, James. 2019. Beyond Slacktivism:  Political Participation on Social Media. Switzerland: Palgrave Macmillan. Dubois, Elizabeth, and Blank, Grant. 2018. “The Echo Chamber is Overstated: The Moderating Effect of Political Interest and Diverse Media.” Information, Communication & Society, 21(5): 729–​745. Giroux, Henry. 2006. “Reading Hurricane Katrina:  Race, Class, and the Biopolitics of Disposability.” College Literature, 33(3): 171–​196. Ibarra, Peter and Adorjan, Michael. 2018. “Social Constructionism.” In The Cambridge Handbook of Social Problems, edited by Javier Trevino. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, pp 279–​300. Levy, Brian L. 2012. “Bayou Blues: The Social Structure of Hurricane Katrina’s Damage.” Sociological Spectrum, 32(5): 424–​435. Lewis, Simon L. and Maslin, Mark A. 2015. “Defining the Anthropocene.” Nature, 519(7542): 171–​180. Loseke, Donileen R. 2018. “Narrative and the Politics of Meaning in a ‘Post-​Fact’ World.” Social Problems, 65(1): 1–​10. Loseke, Donileen and Kusenbach, Margarethe. 2008. “The Social Construction of Emotion.” In Handbook of Constructionist Research, edited by James Holstein and Jaber Gubrium. New York:  The Guilford Press, pp 511–​529. Mills, C. Wright. 1959. The Sociological Imagination. Harmondsworth: Penguin. Ong, Aihwa. 2006. Neoliberalism as Exception: Mutations in Citizenship and Sovereignty. Durham, NC: Duke University Press. Peck, Jamie. 2010. Constructions of Neoliberal Reason. Oxford: Oxford University Press. Reiman, Jeffrey and Leighton, Paul. 2015. The Rich Get Richer and the Poor Get Prison: Ideology, Class, and Criminal Justice. 10th edition. London: Routledge. Susser, Daniel, Roessler, Beate, and Nissenbaum, Helen. 2019. “Technology, Autonomy, and Manipulation.” Internet Policy Review, 8(2). Swidler, Ann. 1986. “Culture in Action:  Symbols and Strategies.” American Sociological Review, 51(2): 273–​286.

About the Author

Michael Adorjan is Associate Professor of Sociology at the University of Calgary. His current research and teaching centers on youth and “technoconnectivity,” including the role of technology in teens’ lives, as well as parental and educator responses. His research also examines colonial and postcolonial

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responses to youth “crime” in Hong Kong, including public perceptions of police. Recent publications address social problems related to youth including cyberbullying, sexting, privacy, and “online addiction.” His research appears in Learning, Media and Technology, the British Journal of Criminology, Theoretical Criminology, Media, Culture & Society, and the Canadian Review of Sociology.

Index

aboriginal health services 45–46 adult identity 18 Agenda for Social Justice 1 Agenda for Sustainable Development (2030) 104–105 Alma Ata Declaration on Primary Health 104–105 Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 27–28 asylum-seekers 102–108 as vectors of disease 105–106 protection discourse 106–107 austerity, culture of 27–28 Bangladesh Bureau of Statistics 54 Black Americans, killing of 51–52 caregivers, for home care 34 as undocumented laborers 31 for disabled people 31 risk of contracting COVID-19 31 shortages of 31 cash payments, to Indigenous persons and communities 48 Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) 28–29 Centre for Urban Studies, Bangladesh 54

child mortality, due to contaminated water 62 civil rights laws 27–28 civil society organizations 118–119 clean water, access to 62, 64, 128 communal 68 global disparities in 67–68 Coalition of Action for the Economic Empowerment of Women 117–118 communities of color 62 community public health, infrastructure for 67 community-based living 27 contact tracing 61–62, 101 contaminated water child mortality due to 62 death and disease caused due to 62 due to human waste 64 preventable diseases caused by 63 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women 35 Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Racial Discrimination 35

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144 Index Convention on the Rights of Persons with Disabilities (CRPD, 2006) 27–28, 34–35 Optional Protocol 35 Corona Cooking Survey (University of Antwerp) 90–91 Coronavirus Aid, Relief, and Economic Security (CARES) Act 20, 47–49, 76 corporate bailouts, for industries 117 Council of Europe Commissioner for Human Rights 80 COVID-19 pandemic challenges presented by 8 effects on postsecondary education and training 15–16 problems during 5 recessionary effects of 22 rise of 2 spread of community 66 global 39 measures taken to control 89 cultural evolution, theory of 124 cultural norms, about gender 112–113 Current Population Survey 18 date labeling 95 Dhaka slum dwellers diseases affecting 54–55 social distancing 56 spread of COVID-19 among 54 Dharavi slum dwellers (Mumbai, India) diseases affecting 54–55 social distancing 56

spread of COVID-19 among 54 diarrhea 62 digital divide 17 digital skill development at secondary and postsecondary levels 20–21 educational programs for 20–21 Disability News Service 29–30 disability rights, during COVID-19 and triage model of healthcare 27–28 cases of abuse toward disabled people 27–28 guidelines for ensuring 29 institutional discrimination and 30 legislation for 27–28 problems regarding 27 recommendations to protect 32 for disability rights organizations (DPOs) 35 for governments 33 for United Nations 32 general principles 32 research evidence 29 violations of 32, 35–36 disabled people cases of abuse toward 27–28 deaths of 29–30 difficulty in finding caregivers for home care 31 exclusion from job market 30–31 factors influencing death rates among 30 healthcare services for 30

Index in Global North 31 in Global South 31 institutional discrimination for 30 intellectual and cognitive disabilities 30 relaxation of protections for 29–30 disabled persons organizations (DPOs) 34–35 responsibility to protect disability rights 35 disbursement of funds 48 Doctors Without Borders 41–42, 46, 102 domestic servitude 5 domestic violence 114–115 drinking water services 63 Ebola outbreak (2014–16) 7, 51–52 school closures during 19 economic depression of 2008 29 economic fallout, from COVID19 pandemic 19–20, 22 impact on mental health 48–49 economic insecurity 23–24 economic security 120, 126 economic shock, caused by COVID-19 pandemic 90 educational appropriations, government-sponsored 19–20 educational gaps, between lowand high-income countries 17 educational programs allocation of resources to 19 educational inequalities 19 for disadvantaged youth and young adults 19

145 for young adults coming of age 19 Germany’s apprenticeship program 21 impact of economic fallout on 19–20 in secondary schools in Japan 21 monetary support for 19–20 on COVID-19 55 opportunities for re-training 19–20 remote learning 116 to augment youth’s digital and technical skills 20 to strengthen bridges from school to work 21 emergency response services 48 employment based on scholastic performance 21 women’s occupational trajectories 22, 113–114 employment programs, during COVID-19 pandemic for digital skill development 20–21 for Indigenous Peoples 47–48 government-sponsored 22–23 in New Zealand 47–48 opportunity programs 81 pandemic unemployment assistance 11 environmental pollution 62 epistemologies of the South 32–33 equal pay legislation 120 ethnocide 40–41 European Food Banks Federation 87

146 Index evolutionary modernization, theory of 124, 126–127 fake news, concerns related to 136–137 family-related transitions, impact of COVID-19 pandemic on 18, 23–24 farming literacy 93 favelas 54 Feeding America 89 feminist response to COVID-19 problems regarding 111 recommendations and solutions 117 center women- and gender-focused civil society organizations 119 co-creation of feminist policies with feminists 118 funding of gender research on COVID-19 119 mandating of gender-equitable work policies 120 school policies centering women and girls 120 support for sexual health and reproductive rights 118 women leadership and decision-making 117 research evidence regarding 112 decision-making and leadership 117 gender and education 116 gender-based violence (GBV) 114 gendered carework 113 gendered division of labor 112

sexual and reproductive health 115 financial resources, for combating human trafficking 8 flush toilets 63 Food & Water Watch 66 food and monetary assistance 57 food banks 6–7, 87, 89 food chains and climate crisis 89 consequences of interrupted 89 food crisis, caused by the pandemic 88 food donation 92 as tool for combating hunger and preventing food waste 95 Global Food Donation Policy Atlas 95 governance of 95 food governance 93–95 food habit adaptability 88 food insecurity 20, 48, 77 and food services 89 consequences of interrupted food chains on 89 families, COVID-19, and food 90 food donation governance and 95 problem due to outbreak of COVID-19 pandemic 87 recommendations and solutions to mitigate 91 at individual level 91 on international and global level 95 on regional and national levels 93

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research on impact of COVID19 on 89 food justice 91–92, 94–95 food literacy 93 and crisis-adaption skills 90–91 food pantries 87 Tafel (German food pantry) 89 food policymaking 93–94 food production, de-gendering and de-victimizing of 95 food safety 95 rules for 95 food security 95–96, 128, 135–136 food waste penalties 95 forced displacement 105–106 forced labor 5, 8–9 forced marriages 111 forced migration 100, 103

global economic crisis 123 global fight against poverty 128 Global Food Donation Policy Atlas 95 global food emergency 87 global food supply chains 89 global hunger crisis 87 global intergenerational value 124 Global North 27–28, 32–33, 51 Global South 29, 31–32, 52, 55 anti-poverty policies 58–59 economic inequality in 32 slum dwellers see slum dwellers, effects of COVID-19 on government-instigated nationalism 78 Great Recession 17–18, 22 Guterres, António 99

gender equality 111, 118–119 gender inequality 88 gender pay gap 120 gender research on COVID-19 119 gender-based violence (GBV) 111, 114 as “shadow pandemic” 115 gendered carework 113 gendered division of labor 112 gendered impacts of COVID-19 problems regarding 111 research on 111 gender-equitable work policies 120 gender-transformative budgeting 117 Global Agenda for Social Justice 1 Global Compact on Refugees (GCR) 99–100

Hamilton Project 90–91 handwashing and hygiene communal access to 68 facilities for 64 practices of 61–62 handwashing stations, at points of care in all healthcare facilities 69 health and economic crisis 15 health insurance program 27, 76 healthcare facilities, universal access to 69 healthcare rationing, during COVID-19 austerity policies and 27 concept of 36 tax spending and 27 healthcare services aboriginal health services 45–46

148 Index access to affordable 57 for disabled people 30 for migrant workers 76 for slum dwellers 57 prohibitive cost and limited access to 76 quality of 31 Whānau Ora Programme (New Zealand) 45 healthcare systems austerity policies 27 availability based on cost-efficiency 29 COVID-19 pandemic problem during 27 research evidence 29 for Indigenous community 41 healthcare rationing 27 in United States 76 tax spending on 27 triage model of care 27–28 healthcare waste, handling and disposal of 69 Heinz Lohmann Foundation (Germany) 90–91 higher education financial support to students 20 impact of COVID-19 pandemic on 15–16 institutions of 20–21 tuition-free 19–20 high-risk occupations 20–21 hoarding, of food 89 home violence 123 homeownership, among young adults 23–24 housing insecurity 20 housing programs government-sponsored 23–24 homeownership 23–24

in Singapore 23–24 Human Development Report 123–125 Human Mobility and Human Rights in the COVID-19 Pandemic, The 101 human right, to water and sanitation access to clean water 64 sanitation systems 64 facilities for handwashing and hygiene 64 problem associated with 61 recommendations and solutions to protect 65 by making water free for non-commercial use 65 by stopping privatization of public utilities 66 communal access to clean water, sanitation, and handwashing facilities 68 investing in infrastructure for community public health 67 moratorium on water shutoffs 67 universal access to healthcare facilities 69 research on impact of COVID19 on 63 Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) initiative 63 human rights agreements 32 human rights violations 99–100 Human Rights Watch 62 human trafficking 123–124

Index collaborations with other organizations for preventing 8 defined 5 during COVID-19 crisis 5–6 financial resources for combating 8 prevention and rescue efforts 12 recommendation and solution for preventing see recommendation and solution, for preventing human trafficking during COVID-19 warning signs and risk factors of 9–10 women and girls affected by 5–6 human values and motivations 125 Hydroxychloroquine 27 immune system 90–91 income inequalities 16 loss of 5–6 maintenance programs 22 subsidies 79 income stability and family wellbeing 126 Indigenous Community Support Fund (Canada) 48 Indigenous Peoples, in the age of COVID-19 access to local healthcare providers and services 45 avoidance of unnecessary travel 44 cash assistance to 48

149 distance from the settler-state 39–40 economic fallout and its impact on 48–49 emergency aid to protect 40–41 employment policy for 47–48 ethnocide 40–41 health and safety of 49 health and wellbeing of 42 identification of 39–40 Indigenous Community Support Fund (Canada) 48 knowledge systems 39–42, 49 national reopening plans 44–45 recommendations and solutions for 42 economic solutions 47 quality and affordable healthcare 45 tribal sovereignty and borders 43 research evidence associated with 40 economic solutions 42 quality and affordable healthcare 41 tribal sovereignty and borders 40 responsibility of settler-states for protection of 40–41 risk of exposure 39 safety of 39–40 social problem faced by 39 sustainable employment 47–48 violence against 48–49 Industrial modernization 124–125 informal economy 57

150 Index information communications technologies 136–137 Inglehart, Ronald 124, 126–127 internal migrant workers, in India 77 food insecurity 77 intersectional inequality among 78 lack of governmental preparedness 77 large internal migration 77 threatened livelihoods and no safety net 78 International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights 35 International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights 35 International Disability Alliance 28–29, 31 Disability Rights Monitor 35 international disability rights 36 International Labor Organization (ILO) 17–18, 74, 127 International Organization for Migration 100–101 International Rescue Committee 101 internet and computer usage 20–21 Italian Worker’s Club 89 job creation 81 job fairs 21 job loss, during COVID-19 pandemic 17–18, 111 migrant workers 74 job market exclusion of disabled people from 30

impact of COVID-19 pandemic on 16 job placements, for unemployed youths 22 Kaiser Family Foundation 76 Kansas National Guard 89 labor force, downsizing of 31 labor markets 17–19, 21, 127–128 impact of COVID-19 pandemic on 16 relation with education 21 “Youth Guarantee” program 22 laid-off workers 55 land rights violations, by foreigners 40–41 Landes, Scott 30 Least Developed Countries 64–65 Leib, Emily Broad 95 lockdowns, due to COVID-19 pandemic 20–21 lost wages, policies to replenish 22–23 Lupus 27 marginalized communities 63 social inequalities 39 markers of adulthood acquisition of 17–18 family-related 23–24 homeownership 23–24 marriage and parenthood 23–24 Maslow’s pyramid for secure survival 128

Index Médecins Sans Frontières see Doctors Without Borders medications, for COVID-19 27 mental health 48, 82 migrant workers as naturalized citizens 75–76 as second class citizens 73 burden of risk and overwork 82 defined 73–74 exploitation of 5 government-instituted employment schemes 78 human rights of 80 in India 77 in United States 75 internal migrants 73, 77 international migrants 73 job losses faced by 74 legal assistance to 81 mental health of 82 migration stocks and remittances 75 mobility and legal constraints 76 nature of job (frontline) 75 nonpayment of wages 74 plight in the age of COVID-19 82–83 problem faced due to COVID19 crisis 73 prohibitive cost and limited access to healthcare 76 recommendations and solutions to protect against COVID-19 crisis 78 employment of gender sensitive policies 82 government-sponsored relief measures 79

151 job creation/employment opportunity programs 81 legal concessions/visa extensions/regulatory relaxations 80 programs to bolster communication/advocacy/ inclusion 81 push and pull factors 78–79 temporary citizenship rights and social protection 80 relief exclusion 76 research on impact of COVID19 on 75 restriction of movement 74 return migrants 73 temporary citizenship of 80 work in essential critical infrastructure 75–76 “mixed-status” households 76 National Disability Rights Network 35 national recovery plans, components of 20–21 national reopening plans 44–45 Navajo Nation 41–42, 46 Network Against Human Trafficking and Slavery 6–7 occupational inequalities 16 Office of Justice Programs 10 Open Society Foundation 79 Paris Climate Agreement 91–92 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act 27–28 patient wellbeing and health 137–138

152 Index people before economy” approach, to pandemic management 44 people with intellectual disabilities 27–28 Perrucci, Robert 1–2 personal protective equipment (PPE) 27, 33, 46, 48 pit latrines 54 Plan International 7 planning, for water and sanitation infrastructure 68 Polaris Project 5–6, 9–10 political activism 136–137 poverty reduction, strategy for 58 preventable diseases 63 preventative strategies, to reduce the spread of infectious diseases 68 privatized services, cost of 66–67 problems, during COVID-19 crisis food insecurity 87 human trafficking 5 impact on disability rights 27 Indigenous Peoples 39 migrant workers 73 slum dwellers 51 in transition to adulthood 15 of human right to water and sanitation 61 of refugee health and human rights 99 public health during COVID-19 128 education campaign 46 information 46 infrastructure for community public health 67

prevention recommendations for mitigating COVID-19 104 public health insurance 76 public sociology 1–2 public utilities, privatization of 66 public–private partnerships, in the water sector 66 purchasing power, loss of 22–23 quality of life in slums 54 indicators of 63 quarantining, strategies for 56 recommendation and solution, for preventing human trafficking during COVID-19 pandemic 8 collaborations with other organizations 8 providing social support at governmental level 11 individual level 11 seeking new sources of funding and support 8 use of survivor-centered approach to service delivery 10 recommendation and solution, to mitigate COVID-19 impact on adulthood 18 by augmenting youth’s digital and technical skills 20 by increase in educational allocations 19 by strengthening bridges from school to work 21

Index on policies to help youth become economically independent 23 protection of young people during economic downturns 22 refugee assimilation, human security-oriented approach to 105–106 refugee camps 117–118 Refugee Convention (1951) 102, 104–105 Refugee Convention (1961) 102–103 refugee health and human rights COVID-19 crisis problems during 99 research evidence during 100 emergency assistance and shelter 102 forced displacement 105–106 forced migration 103 impact on livelihoods 103 key challenges related to 105–106 of refugees living in urban areas/cities 104 post-COVID-19 policy planning 103–108 protection and care for 104–105 protection of forced migrants 106–107 recommendations and solutions to protect 103 break from utilizing anti-refugee and xenophobic rhetoric 107 by adopting dynamic policymaking processes 106

153 by developing collaborative and inclusive public policy and response strategies 105 by pursuing humane and rights-based policies regarding asylum 104 refugee resettlement plan 102 refugees admissible for resettlement 102 Rohingya refugees 106–107 Universal Health Coverage (UHC) 104–105 refugee laws and policies 99–100 Rehabilitation Act of 1973 27–28 remote learning 116 reproductive and sexual health 111 research, on impact of COVID19 pandemic on disability rights 29 on food insecurity 89 on healthcare system 29 on human rights to water and sanitation 63 on human trafficking 6 on Indigenous Peoples 40 on migrant workers 75 on refugee health and human rights 100 on slum dwellers 54 on transition to adulthood 17 right to food 87 rural income, in developing countries 89–90 Safe Horizon (human trafficking prevention organization) 5–6 safety net 19, 23–24 for migrant workers 78

154 Index sanitation systems, access to 64 in Southern Asia 64 in Sub-Saharan Africa 64 school closures, due to COVID19 pandemic 17, 19 school dropouts 19 school-to-work bridges 21 security and happiness, impact of COVID-19 on 126 self-employed workers program to support 22–23 service and tourism jobs, loss of 11 service delivery, survivor-centered approach to 10 settler colonialism 39–40 social and economic disparities caused by 49 violence of 49 sex trafficking 8–9 sexual and reproductive health 115 sexual exploitation 7, 74 sexual health and reproductive rights 118 sexual violence 114–115 slum dwellers, effects of COVID19 on due to lack of sanitation 55 in Dhaka’s slums 53 in Dharavi slum in Mumbai 52–53 in Global South 52, 55 on life and livelihood 55 problems associated with 51 quality of life and 54 recommendations and solutions to mitigate 55 access to affordable healthcare 57

access to clean water, soap, and other sanitation 56 by poverty reduction 58 by vaccination in slum areas 58 education about COVID19 55 food and monetary assistance 57 strategies for quarantining and social distancing 56 research on 54 social conflict and power imbalances 114–115 social distancing 5–8, 11, 33, 57–58, 61–62, 64, 125 guidelines for 89 strategies for 56 social isolation, associated with COVID-19 48–49 Social Problems in the Age of COVID-19 2 social problems, during the COVID-19 1 global concerns regarding 2–3 scholarship in 1–2 social security 78 social support, during COVID19 pandemic at governmental level 11 at individual level 11 Society for the Study of Social Problems (SSSP) 1–2 Justice 21 Committee (J-21) 1–2 Spanish Flu (H1N1) epidemic 125 student debt, burden of 20 sustainability leadership 93

Index Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 33, 63, 91–92 swine flu 51–52, 55–56, 58 Tafel (German food pantry) 89 tax spending, for healthcare 27 teen pregnancies 7 temporary citizenship rights and social protection 80 transition to adulthood awareness campaigns 20 family-related transition markers 18 from school to work 21 impact of COVID-19 pandemic in 15 recommendations and solutions to mitigate 18 inequalities in 15 occupational careers and 17–18 research evidence of impact of COVID-19 pandemic on 17 transnational corporations 33 tribal communities, mistreatment by settler-states 39 tribal nations, vulnerability of 43 tribal sovereignty and borders 40, 43 unemployment see also youth unemployment assistance program 11 program to support self-employed workers 22–23 protection against 22 United Kingdom (UK) Office for National Statistics (ONS) report. 29–30 relaxation of protections for disabled people 29–30

155 United Nations (UN) 70 Convention against Transnational Organized Crime 5 Declaration on the Rights of Indigenous Peoples (UNDRIP) 40 Food and Agriculture Organization 89–90 General Assembly 61, 87, 99–100 Global Humanitarian Response Plan’s (HRP) Guidance on COVID-19 115 Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) 99 Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) 7 protection of disability rights 32 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 33, 63, 91–92 United Nations Children’s Fund (UNICEF) 63, 91–92 Joint Management Programme (JMP) 63–64 Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) initiative 63 United Nations Refugee Agency (UNHCR) 99 recommendations on international cooperation 104–105 reports on refugee vulnerability 104–105 United States Citizenship and Immigration Services 76–77

156 Index Department of Health and Human Services 29 Department of Homeland Security 9–10 Department of Justice 9–10 Federal Emergency Management System (FEMA) 29 Federal Health and Human Services Office on Trafficking in Persons 8 healthcare systems in 76 migrant workers in 75 Universal Declaration of Human Rights (UDHR) 99–100 Universal Health Coverage (UHC) 104–105 urban poverty, growth of 54 vaccination, in slum areas 58 values and society in crisis, evolution of 123 ventilators 27 virus carriers, stigma as 79 virus testing, free access to 79 vocational certification programs 20–21 vocational schools in United States 21 training programs 20 vulnerability, to exposure of COVID-19 61–63 wage reductions 22–23 Wage Subsidy Scheme (New Zealand) 79 Wallace, Ruth 90–91 water contaminated 62, 64, 68 drinking water services 63

for non-commercial use 65 insecurity 48 price rise 62 privatization of 62 water safety, standards for 66–67 water services 64 access to 128 disconnection of 67 for residential consumers 66–67 shutoffs due to public health risks. 67 Water Supply, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) initiative 63 water utilities 67 water-borne diseases 68 Whānau Ora Programme (New Zealand) 45 women living in extreme poverty 114 women’s representation, on COVID-19 response planning and decision-making 117 World Bank 63, 89–90 Disability Inclusion Report 29 World Economic Forum 90 World Food Programme 87–88 World Health Organization (WHO) 28–29, 54–55, 61–63, 99, 117 World Refugee Report (2018) 102 World Values Survey 3 xenophobia 74 “Youth Guarantee” program 22 youth unemployment 17–18, 123 fund to support job placements 22

Index in Germany 21 youth’s educational achievement, impact of COVID-19 pandemic on 17

157 Zika outbreak 51–52