The Management of Accountability: State Transformation and Class Politics in Scotlandâs COVID-19 Response

Ewan Kerr; James Foley

Jump to Content

Chapter 2 The Management of Accountability: State Transformation and Class Politics in Scotlandâs COVID-19 Response

in The Organisation of Irresponsibility?

Autor:innen:

Ewan Kerr

Ewan Kerr
Search for other papers by Ewan Kerr in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed

und

James Foley

James Foley
Search for other papers by James Foley in
Current site
Google Scholar
PubMed

Art:: Kapitel

Seiten:: 19â46

DOI:: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004747784_003

Ãber Institut einloggen

Sofortzugang erwerben (PDF-Download und unbegrenzter Online-Zugang):

42,00Â â¬35,00Â â¬Â excl. VAT

Add to Cart

Token einlÃ¶sen

Abstract

The COVID-19 lockdowns stand as one of the most abrupt and consequential shifts in modern state-society relations, rivalling wartime disruptions. A key puzzle of this period is the convergence of policy responses despite the rise of multi-level governance, which has diffused power and sovereignty. This chapter explores the politics of pandemic management within Scotlandâs devolved relationship with the United Kingdom. Drawing on interviews with governance officials and civil society actors and analysis of devolved policy documents, it demonstrates that although the responses of Holyrood and Westminster differed in presentation, they shared substantial similarities in their interventions and outcomes. The chapter argues that these stylistic differences served to manage class-based grievances and exemplify the âmanagement of accountabilityâ â a strategy that enables the organisation of irresponsibility. What emerges is a story of the dysfunctional tension between levels of multi-level governance, in which constitutionalised politics were focused upon superficial conflicts over scale and jurisdiction, and functioned to depoliticise underlying questions of social inequality. The Scottish Governmentâs discursive focus on resilience aimed to reconcile a persistent climate of emergency with the stability of socio-political structures and systems, while also mitigating class-related grievances. The surface-level political story of the pandemic in Scotland would, therefore, centre on national, rather than class, conflicts embodied in the multi-level state.

Zitierungsangaben

Save
Cite
Inhalt per Mail versenden

Link teilen

Sie kÃ¶nnen einen Link zu dieser Seite per E-Mail senden:
Inhalt per Mail versenden
oder den Link direkt kopieren:

https://brill.edhh.ma/abstract/book/9789004747784/BP000010.xml
Der Link wurde nicht kopiert. Ihr aktueller Browser unterstÃ¼tzt das Kopieren Ã¼ber diese SchaltflÃ¤che mÃ¶glicherweise nicht.

Link wurde kopiert

Reduzieren
Erweitern
Nach oben

The Organisation of Irresponsibility?

Reassessing COVID-19 in Europe

Reihe:Â Studies in Critical Social Sciences, Band: 347

Cover The Organisation of Irresponsibility?

ISBN:: 9789004747784

Verleger:: Brill

Print-Publikationsdatum:: 20 Nov 2025

Fachgebiete
- Sozialwissenschaften

Front Matter

Back Matter

ProCite

RefWorks

Reference Manager

BibTeX

Zotero

EndNote

Kennzahlen

	Insgesamt	Letzte 365 Tage	In den letzten 30 Tagen
Aufrufe von Kurzbeschreibungen	148	148	8
Gesamttextansichten	2	2	1
PDF-Downloads	2	2	1

Afrikanistik	Internationale Beziehungen	Nahost- und Islamwissenschaften
Altorientalistik und Ägyptologie	Internationales Recht	Pädagogik
Amerikanistik	Judaistik	Philosophie
Asienwissenschaften	Klassische Altertumswissenschaft	Religionswissenschaft
Bibelauslegung	Kunstgeschichte	Slawistik und Eurasienkunde
Biologie	Literatur- und Kulturwissenschaften	Sozialwissenschaften
Biowissenschaften	Medienwissenschaft	Sprachen und Linguistik
Buchgeschichte und Kartographie	Menschenrechte und humanitäres Völkerrecht	Theologie und Christentum
Geschichte	Musikwissenschaft

Fachgebiete

Autor:innen

Open Access

Produkt-Informationen

Ãber uns

Kontakt

Chapter 2 The Management of Accountability: State Transformation and Class Politics in Scotlandâs COVID-19 Response

Abstract

Zitierungsangaben

Link teilen

The Organisation of Irresponsibility?

Reassessing COVID-19 in Europe

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Verweisliste

Kennzahlen

Kennzahlen

Chapter 2 The Management of Accountability: State Transformation and Class Politics in Scotlandâs COVID-19 Response