Abstract
Whatever we read about Covid-19, the word unprecedented is not far away: whether in describing policy choices, the daily death tolls, the scale of upheaval, or the challenges that await a readjusting world. This paper takes an alternative view: if not unpredictable, the crisis unfolding in the United Kingdom (UK) is not unprecedented. Rather, it is foretold in accounts of successive animal health crises. Social studies of biosecurity and animal disease management provide an “anticipatory logic” - a mirror to the unfolding human catastrophe of Covid-19, providing few surprises. And yet, these accounts appear to be routinely ignored in the narrative of Covid-19. Do social studies of animal disease really have no value when it comes to guiding and assessing responses to Covid-19? To answer this question, we describe the narrative arc of the UK's approach to managing Covid-19. We then overlay findings from social studies of animal disease to reveal the warnings they provided for a pandemic like Covid-19. We conclude by reflecting on the reasons why these studies have been paid minimal attention and the extent to which the failure to learn from these lessons of animal health management signals a failure of the One Health agenda.
Highlights
Do social studies of animal disease really have no value when it comes to guiding and assessing responses to Covid19? To answer this question, we describe the narrative arc of the United Kingdom (UK)’s approach to managing Covid-19
The responses to Covid-19 in the UK share Rosenberg’s archetypal epidemic plotline: four key stages that are organized around the concept of the “lockdown,” the primary strategy adopted by the government to manage the spread of the virus
The first is that it seems that social studies of animal disease provide a mirror of clarity to the narrative arc of Covid-19
Summary
2] describes epidemics as a dramaturgic form, following a plot line “of increasing revelatory tension, move to a crisis of individual and collective character, drift toward closure.” In doing so, this narrative arc “illuminat[es] fundamental patterns of social value and institutional practice” (ibid.). The responses to Covid-19 in the UK share Rosenberg’s archetypal epidemic plotline: four key stages that are organized around the concept of the “lockdown,” the primary strategy adopted by the government to manage the spread of the virus (see Figure 1). The acts to this lockdown drama are described below: Evading Lockdown. Rather than government imposed containment measures, such as banning mass gatherings and closing schools, it was members of the public who took these decisions
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary 
Published Version (
Free)
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a callDisclaimer: All third-party content on this website/platform is and will remain the property of their respective owners and is provided on "as is" basis without any warranties, express or implied. Use of third-party content does not indicate any affiliation, sponsorship with or endorsement by them. Any references to third-party content is to identify the corresponding services and shall be considered fair use under The CopyrightLaw.
