Scenes of Shame and Stigma in COVID-19

Under the umbrella of the Shame and Medicine project, we have received funding from the UKRI-AHRC 鈥淚deas to Address COVID鈥� rapid response funding call. A collaboration with Co-Investigators Luna Dolezal (Exeter, PI Shame & Medicine), Arthur Rose (Exeter) and Fred Cooper (Exeter), Scenes of Shame and Stigma in COVID-19 will identify and investigate, through philosophical, cultural studies and historical analyses, the sites and circumstances of shame, shaming, stigma and discrimination during the first 12 months (January-December 2020) of the COVID-19 health crisis. The project is particularly concerned with investigating (1) how stigma and shame are related to uneven distributions of social power and (2) how digital technologies, social media, neoliberal ideologies and rapid global information exchange have conditioned the 鈥榮cenes of shame and stigma鈥� when compared to previous respiratory pandemics.

Stigma and shame are pressing concerns of the on-going COVID-19 health crisis. Public Health England has called for further research into stigma and discrimination, especially in relation to BAME communities (Beyond the Data, June 2020). Stigma regarding COVID-19 has been identified as an urgent issue by the NHS, Public Health England, WHO, CDC and other health bodies globally. In the UK, shame and stigma have been created and exacerbated by public health interventions (e.g., the first local lockdown produced the stigmatised 鈥渓epers of Leicester鈥�; face mask use/non-use has led to both stigma and shaming). Shaming is often the affective vector in public health messaging, both intentionally and inadvertently, and 鈥榩andemic shaming鈥� has been repeatedly identified as a powerful and ubiquitous phenomenon. There is an urgent need to understand how social, political and technological features that are unique to the contemporary moment (e.g., social media, rapid global information exchange, neoliberal ideologies) are shaping the ways in which these phenomena are produced, manifested and experienced. This research will produce rigorous scholarly evidence, along with short term evidence-led recommendations to policy makers to assist with clarifying public health messaging, in order to minimize the harms associated with shame and stigma. It will also draw out the implications of the direct and indirect consequences that health policies and practices have for individuals, especially among marginal groups.

We are organizing a 鈥楽cenes of Shame and Stigma in COVID-19鈥� interdisciplinary seminar series, for more details and to register for talks click .

Read Luna Dolezal鈥檚, Arthur Rose鈥檚 and Fred Cooper鈥檚 recent article in The Lancet, 鈥�, where they discuss how shame has been part of healthcare workers鈥� experience during the COVID-19 pandemic because of social media use and instances of online shaming.

We have done some preliminary writing exploring the , the and the idea the .

Read our recent Blog post .

The platform at the 樱花动漫 showcases our work that pertains to COVID-19.

Supported by the Arts and Humanities Research Council grant number: AH/V013483/1鈥�