Visual protest repertoires and protesters’ health identity: a battlefield of the anti-new normal movement

Abstract

This study explores the health identity of the anti-new normal protesters during the coronavirus pandemic through analyzing the visual protest repertoires that were employed by the protesters in the two waves of demonstrations occurring across the world between 2020 and 2021. The authors examine the protesters’ interpretations of the coronavirus and its mandatory protective measures, their imaginations of the social milieu that has been forever transformed by COVID-19, and their expectations of life. The protesters prioritize the innate physical body, which is essentialized in that there is a static relationship between the physical body and the self as well as between the self and others. The current study enriches our understandings of the new normal opponents’ health identity and provides insights into how it differs from that of the supporters. It helps health educators to effectively construct and deliver health promotion messages and foster healthy behaviors during the pandemic.