As the article that Sara shared with us said, we should not turn coronavirus into an “imaginary war”. However, I do think the societal effects of disease and war bear some similarities.
Siniša Malešević’s reading discussed how int
ernal and external conflict are often inversely proportional. If we consider Covid-19 an external conflict, the idea holds partly true. Covid-19 has certainly not stopped internal conflict – depressingly, but perhaps unsurprisingly, hate crime and domestic abuse have spiked. However, a new community spirit, or at least the idea of one, has been generated. Benedict Anderson’s concept of ‘Imagined Communities’ describes how members of a nation can be connected without ever meeting each other, and lockdown has been the ultimate proof of this. Teddy-bears in windows and sentiments such as “We’re all in this together” have all strengthened our community spirit. Even politically, there is an attempt to appear more unified. As during wartime, people have tried to unify against a common threat. Of course, this unified community is partly a myth – for example, we have also seen selfish behaviour with panic buying.
Our community spirit may evaporate as soon as lockdown is over. However, the idea of our perseverance through adversity could remain in our collective memory, just as past conflicts have. Sticking together through a horrific disease fits into New Zealand’s supposed egalitarian identity. Historian Geoffrey Rice suggests the 1918 influenza pandemic’s effect on the collective memory may have been more distinct had it occurred during peacetime. It’s unlikely our current circumstances will arise again, either through disease or war. Just as war defined past generations, Covid-19 could define ours. The idea of our exceptional community would be supported if NZ continues to fare better than most countries.
Wartime and lockdown can also alter our lifestyles. World War Two went some way to helping women’s rights, and similarly, lockdown could help disabled people and others who need to work at home. To be clear, this pandemic is not a good thing. But it seems likely that an abrupt change to normal life will result in a re-evaluation of the way our world works.
The link between conflict and disease historically is also important. In New Zealand, imported European diseases wreaked havoc among unprotected and neglected Māori: between 1769 and 1840, the Māori population declined by 10-30%. Māori have continued to fare worse from disease – their death rate during the 1918 influenza pandemic was eight times worse than Pākehā – and some fear Māori will be disproportionately affected by Covid-19. Colonisers did not deliberately introduce disease to oppress native people, but it was one of colonisation’s most significant effects. When conflicts arose, native people were often unable to respond, or had a much weaker response, due to disease.
New Zealand has an often-forgotten history of conflict and oppression. We should ensure our newfound community spirit is not temporary and applied only to specific groups. Our collective memory should address all our history, and we should work to redress the past.
Bibliography:
Malešević, Siniša. 2010. The Sociology of War and Violence. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
Anderson, Benedict. 1991. Reflections on the Origin and Spread of Nationalism. Verso.
‘Māori and the flu, 1918–19’, URL: https://nzhistory.govt.nz/culture/influenza-pandemic-1918/maori-and-the-flu, (Ministry for Culture and Heritage), updated 27-Mar-2019
I never thought about the ‘war on corona’ being our generation’s defining conflict and I really don’t know how to feel about that.
I think there is something interesting to be noticed with the lockdown and essential workers though. Only 30 or 40 years ago, teenage girls were not allowed to take traditionally male dominated courses, barring them from eventually going into male dominated career fields. This resulted in a lot of women going into care/support work. This is a field that is infamous for having low pay, so much so that often these workplaces are chronically under-staffed. It’s pretty fascinating that now all the businessmen and engineers (which although have more female workers, are still male dominated career paths) are not able to work outside of the home. Care and support workers are now the most essential people keeping our society afloat. For many, this is a reversal of traditional gender roles, namely the male figure being the sole breadwinner of a heteronormative household.
As you said, these times may bring similar results for workers with disabilities as world war 2 brought for women. But how far have women’s rights really come when the gender pay gap still exists and the pay rate is generally far lower for female dominated career paths- which are now some of the only essential workplaces?
Here’s hoping that in ‘defeating’ corona, we may unite not only as Kiwis but as global citizens.