Coronavirus

What ‘back to normal’ teaches me during Corona

- by standplaatswereld

BY PUCK DE BOER Whenever I visit my social media, I read posts of people claiming that this Corona virus enables all kinds of creative inventions and solutions. I see how people decide to broaden their skillset, take crash courses to cope with the online meetings and buy equipment to finally finish their kitchen garden. But most importantly, some people largely celebrate the flexibility that they have gained and imagine how this period will transform the way we live in a post-Corona era. Let’s be honest, I am one of those people. I finally bought Piketty’s Capital in the 21st …

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Venezuelans affected twice by COVID-19 actions in Latin America

- by standplaatswereld

Rigorous measures against the corona pandemic in Latin America affect the millions of Venezuelan migrants harder than local populations on the continent. The closure of borders with neighbouring countries also has far-reaching consequences for Venezuelans at home. International action is needed to avoid a worsening humanitarian drama. Mid-March, the Colombian government declared a state of emergency because of COVID-19, and abruptly closed its borders with Venezuela. In response, local authorities transported undocumented Venezuelans across the country to the border in hundreds of buses. Since informal businesses dried up and local soup kitchens closed in Cúcuta, the largest border town in …

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‘Humanizing’ Indonesia’s COVID-19 Pandemic Response

- by standplaatswereld

BY RATU AYU ASIH KUSUMA PUTRI AND PAMUNGKAS A. DEWANTO While the rich industrial countries are simply readjusting their national budgets amid the COVID-19 outbreak, the fiscal options for the middle-to-low income countries seem to be strictly limited. The Indonesian government, for instance, has undergone about USD 51 billion deficit after allocating about USD 25 billion for the health sector and other incentives for the COVID-19 relief. Unfortunately, in coping with this unprecedented crisis, the government not only experiences financial deficit but also ‘implementation deficit’ in channelling the pandemic relief. Jokowi administration relies heavily on the centralized database and numeric …

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COVID-19 in a war zone

- by standplaatswereld

BY MARINA DE REGT “Marina, how are you? I am worried about you, how is the situation with Corona?” a Yemeni friend asked me last week via Whatsapp. It was not the first time that one of my friends showed their concern about the situation in the Netherlands, which touched me greatly. They are living Yemen, in the midst of a civil war that has led to the biggest humanitarian disaster in the world according to the United Nations, and worry about me, living in one of the most economically developed countries. Their concerns are inspired by the images they …

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Corona in Bangladesh

- by standplaatswereld

DOOR ELLEN BAL Nasrin heeft zich in haar huis teruggetrokken. Ze woont in de woning van haar ouders in Dhaka. De andere verdiepingen zijn verhuurd en zorgen voor wat inkomsten. Haar dagen besteedt ze aan het schrijven van artikelen. Af en toe brengt ze een kort bezoek aan de bazaar voor wat boodschappen. Zo snel als ze kan vlucht ze daarna haar veilige huis weer in. De opzet van de markten in Dhaka maakt social distancing onmogelijk. Onlangs maakte de regering bekend dat de lockdown is verlengd tot ten minste 15 mei. Nasrin kan het nog wel een paar weken …

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De dag die je weet dat gaat komen: ritueel in tijden van corona

- by standplaatswereld

DOOR IRENE STENGS Woensdag 15 april was het zover: de Koninklijke Bond van Oranje Verenigingen maakte het alternatieve programma voor Koningsdag bekend. Koningsdag 2020 zal de geschiedenis ingaan als Woningsdag. In plaats van het oorspronkelijk geplande bezoek van de koninklijke familie aan Maastricht, de vrijmarkten, de festivals en de koningsspelen, roept de bond iedereen op om vanuit zijn woning aan de viering deel te nemen. Vanuit het adagium “thuis én samen” beoogt de KBOV van Woningsdag een dag van nationale saamhorigheid te maken. Deze saamhorigheid zal vorm en inhoud krijgen door middel van een aantal collectieve rituelen: Het uitsteken van …

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Fieldwork and COVID-19: After a ‘Corona home run’ from Indonesia

- by standplaatswereld

BY SHANNON VAN LEEUWEN, EVELIEN VAN OVERVELD & FRIDUS STEIJLEN March 16, early in the morning I received a Whatsapp message from my student Shannon: ‘We received a letter from Campus saying that all students overseas should return home. What do you think?’ Wow, I thought, this is getting serious. There were already some Corona casualties in the Netherlands, mainly in the province of Brabant. Outside the Netherland mainly Italy and Spain were hit by the virus. Since 9 March we had stopped shaking hands, and between 12 and 15 March the so-called intelligent lockdown started. Initially until April 6, …

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New corona and anthropology

- by standplaatswereld

In the meantime, have a look at what some of our colleagues have been working on. Kim Knibbe (RUG) describes how a Nigerian Pentecostal megachurch is handling the virus. Leiden anthropologists have been actively blogging about the new coronavirus too. On this page, you will find an overview of their stories. Of a wholly different nature is the collection of memes and jokes Noel Salazar (KU Leuven) has been collecting on his Facebook page since the ‘ lockdown’. SpW hopes he will in due time present a viral anthropology analysis! Do you have a story to share about the virus? …

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© Indrid_Cold (https://www.flickr.com/photos/fredisonfire/49655326671/), via Creative Commons.

Corona choices

- by standplaatswereld

BY FREEK COLOMBIJN Rumours, new societal practices, new state policies and self-imposed restrictions by organizations spread as fast as the Corona virus itself. It is almost certain that by the time this blog is published, or even by the time I stop writing, the situation has changed. What is clear: it is the rapid pace of the infection that is the biggest challenge for society, more than the lethality of the virus itself. Health systems run the risk of not being able to give large numbers of patients the necessary intensive care, hospitals are short of respirators, and health care …

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On the Brink of a Pandemic; “World, jiāyóu”

- by standplaatswereld

BY JOP KOOPMAN The city of Wuhan, ground zero of the coronavirus, is 6 six days under lockdown when residents take to WeChat and start to suggest that they should chant uplifting phrases from their apartment windows to one and another. The participants decide that at 20:00 p.m. on the 28th of January the chanting commences. As planned, the participants take to the windows and start to chant: Wuhan, jiāyóu!” from apartment to apartment, to building to building, filling the air with words of solidarity. A sense of harmony that’s unique and powerful in times of crisis.  A video shot …

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