Social infrastructures for the post-Covid recovery in the UK

Bear, Laura, Simpson, Nikita ORCID: 0000-0001-5260-3266, Bazambanza, Caroline, Bowers, Rebecca, Kamal, Atiya, Gheewala Lohiya, Anishka ORCID: 0000-0001-6437-9177, Pearson, Alice, Vieira, Jordan ORCID: 0000-0002-9278-6375, Watt, Connor and Wuerth, Milena (2021) Social infrastructures for the post-Covid recovery in the UK. . Department of Anthropology, London School of Economics and Political Science, London, UK.

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Abstract

The central conflict facing policymakers, the voluntary sector, and communities during the Covid-19 pandemic has been keeping safe from a virus that is transmitted interpersonally while also providing vital support to those in need. The report presents the findings from 12 months of ethnographic, participatory, and quantitative research, which has revealed that people have fallen back on their families, neighbourhoods and communities in order to navigate new challenges and burden. We call these networks of kinship and care within and between families, friends, and communities “social infrastructures” and argue that economic life and pandemic recovery relies on the strength of these foundational relations. In the UK, local and rapid response initiatives saved lives as voluntary sector, religious organisations, and Community Champions built on these relations of care to encourage vaccine uptake. These innovative social projects also helped people to grieve and recover from losses of life and livelihoods. We argue that both short- and long-term investment in these integrated social infrastructures is crucial for the post-Covid recovery in the UK.

Item Type:	Monograph (Report)
Official URL:	https://www.lse.ac.uk/anthropology/research/COVID-...
Additional Information:	© 2021 The Authors
Divisions:	Anthropology
Subjects:	R Medicine > RA Public aspects of medicine > RA0421 Public health. Hygiene. Preventive Medicine H Social Sciences > HV Social pathology. Social and public welfare. Criminology
Date Deposited:	12 Jul 2021 08:48
Last Modified:	01 Nov 2024 04:12
URI:	http://eprints.lse.ac.uk/id/eprint/111011

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