Nuances of the pandemic environment: Covidianity, polarization and social vulnerability

Abstract

The article addresses the complexity of the pandemic impact in contexts of high structural uncertainty, institutional deficits and social vulnerability. Based on an extensive bibliographic review, and designed for the Latin American region, part of the public and lethal nature of pandemics and their implosive nature on the basic standards of social life, routine or reflective practices, worldviews, beliefs, as well as the historical forms of interaction, association and collective action of a certain community. In addition, the response capacity of governments to COVID-19 is exposed to the center of attention, their health policy trajectories and the civic culture of society. It recovers the notion of social trust, both horizontally between citizens and vertical between government and citizens, as a key component in the construction of collective action capital to expand the package of options for responses to the pandemic, recognizing the communication challenge. Finally, it underlines that in these settings the pandemic crisis challenges the minimum foundations of equity and social justice.