Format:
Hybrid

Coordinators:
Karembe Ahimbisibwe, University of Jyväskylä, karembe.f.ahimbisibwe@jyu.fi
Judith Kahamba, University of Jyväskylä, judith.s.kahamba@jyu.fi
Kellen Aganyira, Makerene University, kellen.aganyira@mak.ac.ug

Abstract:
The COVID-19 crisis posed an unprecedented challenge to humanity. It disrupted economies and people’s movements intensifying the gap between the rich and the poor. While the travel bans, restrictions to movements, and lockdowns to curb the spread of the virus changed state-citizen relations everywhere, in semi-authoritarian states they offered both a chance to, on one hand, intensify state control, and, on the other, rethink states’ approaches to their citizens. People living in unplanned informal urban neighborhoods were disproportionately affected by the inconsiderate enforcement of COVID-19 protocols and categorization as non-essential. Thus, the global pandemic gravely affected national development, exacerbated citizens’ fragility, and rendered them even more dependent on the state’s uncertain provision. Under the pretext of containing COVID-19, some states militarized the public health procedures, selectively violated basic rights of political opposition, engaged in wealth and power appropriation schemes, and, in some cases, embarked on populist sloganeering that dismissed COVID-19 as non-existent. Hence, rather than use the pandemic to rethink their development practices and embark on long-term planning and transformation of the shaky ghetto livelihoods, weak healthcare systems, and urban informal structures, and to improve governance, semi-authoritarian states mostly maintained a business-as-usual attitude and, therefore, “wasted a crisis”. Some semi-authoritarian states downplayed the seriousness of the pandemic, and others responded with relief packages that barely eased citizens’ precarity.

The working group calls for theoretical and empirical papers that articulate how the state’s management of COVID-19 among disadvantaged groups showcased levels of wasted opportunity and/or business as usual in semi-authoritarian states. Papers that focus on how differentiated categories of citizens survived COVID-19 and its aftermath amid increased state brutality and a dearth of state-planned support are also welcome. The hybrid working group is coordinated by Postdoctoral Researchers in the project: Re-articulating citizenship in the times of uncertainty: Hybrid narratives of COVID-19 responses in sub-Saharan Africa at the University of Jyväskylä.

We request an abstract that includes a title, the name and affiliation of the author(s). Prior circulation of full papers is not required. Author(s) will be notified of decisions by 2nd December 2024.

Please submit your paper abstracts, or any inquiries, to the following emails: karembe.f.ahimbisibwe@jyu.fi, and judith.s.kahamba@jyu.fi

Word count for abstract submission: 350