Search

COVID Communications

COVID Communications

Digital collection supporting a Transnational Disaster STS COVID-19 Collaboration Call, Thursday, July 2, 2020. 

COVID-19 collaboration call: project reflections & directions (Response)

makasuarez
Annotation of
In response to

I am particularly interested in comparative approaches on how different sites (and academics in those places or studying them) are thinking about COVID in their localities. How are people dealing with issues of trust and information in an era when entire archives are in danger (like the police archives in Guatemala which had been rescued in the past decade and are now in danger). This question expands beyond COVID but has become crucial in the context of Ecuador where reliable data is hard to come by. Another important aspect for us is how indigenous communities are fairing amid the pandemic (here a fabulous article on the terrible situation in Brazil—which is not so different to Ecuador's). This touches on issues of communication, infrastructure, language, systemic racism, and more. Finally, I am also interested in ways in which we might be a able to contribute to some of these issues from our academic spaces. Collaborators (which can take many forms) are certainly welcomed.

Transnational Collaboration

This essay provides artifacts that help thinking about/practising collaboration in a transnational manner as well as consituting a reflexive space for the ongoing

Shuar Testimony

This audio was sent by Manuel Maiche, community leader of Kuamar, part of the Shuar territory in Ecuador.

COVID-19 Places

COVID-19 Places

Collection focused on ways COVID-19 is unfolding in different places. 

Ecuador Place Essay Image

Image created with the use of a free image by Crystal Mirallegro (Unsplash website) for Ecuador's covid19 place essay

Image with rainforest trees on background

Mobilizing comedians/political commentators

makasuarez
Annotation of
In response to
One of the mediums of communications that has reached well beyond the US are monologues by well-known comedians that are partly explaining, partly commenting on current BLM events. One of them is Hasan Minjah and his message We Cannot Stay Silent About George Floyd where he calls on migrants in particular to act in the face of racism rather than perpetuate it. Nearly 4 million people have seen the clip, which is part of Minjah's broader Netflix TV series The Patriot Act (who makes these videos and pays for them is also relevant here). In Ecuador, this video circulated mainly among English speaking young adults, mainly via WhatsApp. It triggered many group discussions around what is happening in the US and how we might think about this political moment with regards to our own racist history. The second video is by Trevor Noah and has over 8 million views. In it, he explains what racism means in relationship to the social contract and how it has failed for too many people. To me it is particularly interesting to see the pedagogical approach their videos take and the truly diverse audiences they speak to. The ripple effect the videos have is important for thinking about how the BLM movement has mobilized political sentiments well beyond the US and what mediums can effectively do this (and for whom).