Urban Collectives and insurgency to fight COVID-19: an analysis of social media content

Lara Sucupira Furtado,Lia Sucupira Furtado

doi:10.24220/2318-0919v18e2021a5136

Lara Sucupira Furtado, Lia Sucupira Furtado

Open Access

https://doi.org/10.24220/2318-0919v18e2021a5136

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Abstract

The high incidences of COVID-19 cases in low-income communities, the context of disinformation around the disease and the vacuum of public policies have made low income communities more vulnerable to the pandemic. Considering that scenario, this paper analyzes how urban collectives have used social media to create and share narratives about COVID-19. We frame those contributions through a lens of insurgency, an area of planning studies that is based on grassroots counter-hegemonic actions. We conduct a sentiment and thematic analysis of Instagram posts of urban collectives in Fortaleza to show how social media has been appropriated as a space to cope with the virus and support insurgency. Our findings show, even though most strategies are geared towards emergency relief, collectives also harness the atmosphere of crisis brought by COVID-19 to raise awareness to other structural issues. Collectives promote insurgency by creating their own content, information and research material about COVID-19 in their communities and by partnering with institutions to scale up their claims.

Highlights

THE CRISIS BROUGHT by COVID-19 has highlighted several systemic issues when it comes to the structures in place that guarantee basic human rights such as health, food and shelter
We present how community groups and local dweller associations, which we call here ‘collectives’1, make use of social media to present a counternarrative about COVID-19 that is pertinent to their experiences
Through a content analysis of posts of community group Instagram (IG) profiles, our analysis shows how activists and leaders create narratives to cope with the process of misinformation and emphasize risks in their communities

Summary

Introduction

THE CRISIS BROUGHT by COVID-19 has highlighted several systemic issues when it comes to the structures in place that guarantee basic human rights such as health, food and shelter. We present how community groups and local dweller associations, which we call here ‘collectives’, make use of social media to present a counternarrative about COVID-19 that is pertinent to their experiences. Through a content analysis of posts of community group Instagram (IG) profiles, our analysis shows how activists and leaders create narratives to cope with the process of misinformation and emphasize risks in their communities. They raise awareness of other structural problems affecting low-income settlements and promote actions to cope with a broad set of challenges

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