Workshop | Politicisations of pandemic recovery: knowledge, justifications and democratic agency

Date: June 15-16, 2023
Place: University of Helsinki, Swedish School of Social Science, lecture room Festsal (address: Snellmaninkatu 12) 

In which ways has the recovery phase of the Covid-19 pandemic been politicised across Europe?
How can societies mitigate the problems of Covid-19 sufferers in a just manner in the era of several criss-crossing emergencies?
What institutional lessons can we draw from the pandemic emergency measures in order to improve future crisis governance?

Efforts to cope with the Covid-19 pandemic have been politicised in a myriad of ways in Europe. During the early waves of the disease, these politicisations were often intense, whereas in the recovery phase they may have been subtler and more refined.

Political leaders have had to defend the continued employment of restrictive measures as well as the lifting of them. A range of definitions of ‘new normality’ and the understandings of societal justice have emerged. The modes of compensation to those who have suffered have caused deep rifts in many countries. It may also have been unclear how and on the basis of what knowledge the decisions on restrictions were initially supposed to be taken, and how the decision-making competencies ought to be redefined in the future. Finally, the Covid-19-related politicisations have become intertwined with those pertaining to other crises, climate change and the war in Ukraine in particular.

This workshop, organised by the research consortium Just Recovery from Covid-19, addresses the forms of politicisation of the pandemic recovery and their consequences in the European context. By focusing on knowledge resources, problems of justice, and democratic agency, it seeks to provide viewpoints for improving future crisis preparedness and enhancing trust in society.

More information will follow soon!