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The Organisation of Irresponsibility?
Reassessing COVID-19 in Europe
Series: - Studies in Critical Social Sciences, Volume: 347
The COVID-19 pandemic challenged us to rethink how contemporary states navigate crises. Despite the extraordinary transformations of 2020â22, existing inequalities and power imbalances proved remarkably resilient. This volume argues that post-neoliberal states and governing classes were unequal to the historical moment, learning little about how to adapt to wider political, socio-economic, and ecological challenges. Bringing together critical perspectives, the book highlights how decision-making, leadership, and policy responses were inseparable from political power structures and societal contexts. The volume shows how crisis governance is actively contested, resisted, and shaped by social groups - and how social cleavages are either deepened or challenged in times of crisis.
Ewan Kerr is a Research Associate at the University of Glasgow, UK. A political sociologist, his most recent articles have been published in Scottish Affairs, Critical Sociology, The Political Quarterly, and Economic and Industrial Democracy.
Emina BužinkiÄ is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Development and International Relations, Croatia. Her work on refugee racialization, migrant labour, and transnational solidarities appears in various journals. She is a member of AGITATE! Unsettling Knowledges editorial collective.
James Foley is a senior lecturer in politics at Glasgow Caledonian University. He is the UK PI of the ENDURE project and the author of several books on Scottish and British politics in the context of debates about globalisation and nationalism.
Emina BužinkiÄ is a postdoctoral researcher at the Institute for Development and International Relations, Croatia. Her work on refugee racialization, migrant labour, and transnational solidarities appears in various journals. She is a member of AGITATE! Unsettling Knowledges editorial collective.
James Foley is a senior lecturer in politics at Glasgow Caledonian University. He is the UK PI of the ENDURE project and the author of several books on Scottish and British politics in the context of debates about globalisation and nationalism.
List of Figures and Tables
Notes on Contributors
1 Preface: The Organisation of Irresponsibility? COVID-19 and the Governance of State-Society Relations in Europe
âEwan Kerr, Emina BužinkiÄ and James Foley
2 The Management of Accountability: State Transformation and Class Politics in Scotlandâs COVID-19 Response âEwan Kerr and James Foley
3 Entangled Crises and Anti-systemic Mobilisations in Germany
âChristian Fröhlich and Mihai Varga
4 Protest Movements in Pandemics: Dynamics of 4C Social Responses to COVID-19 Governance in Poland âWojciech Ufel, Anna Cichecka and Mateusz Karolak
5 Governing through Crisis: Racialised Exception and Securitisation in Croatiaâs COVID-19 Response âEmina BužinkiÄ and Senada Å elo Å abiÄ
6 The Struggle over Masks on Twitter: an AC/DT Approach to Finnish Pandemic Governance
âJuha Koljonen, Kleber Carrilho, and Emilia Palonen
7 Bottom-Up Governance in Times of Crisis: Informal Practices and Migrant Agency in Germanyâs Assyrian Community during COVID-19 âSoner Barthoma
8 Managing Crises through Deepening Inequalities: the Neoliberal Labour Politics of the Turkish State during the COVID-19 Pandemic âErdem Damar
9 CODA: COVID-19 â a Neoliberal Pandemic
âAlfredo Saad Filho
Index
Notes on Contributors
1 Preface: The Organisation of Irresponsibility? COVID-19 and the Governance of State-Society Relations in Europe
âEwan Kerr, Emina BužinkiÄ and James Foley
2 The Management of Accountability: State Transformation and Class Politics in Scotlandâs COVID-19 Response âEwan Kerr and James Foley
3 Entangled Crises and Anti-systemic Mobilisations in Germany
âChristian Fröhlich and Mihai Varga
4 Protest Movements in Pandemics: Dynamics of 4C Social Responses to COVID-19 Governance in Poland âWojciech Ufel, Anna Cichecka and Mateusz Karolak
5 Governing through Crisis: Racialised Exception and Securitisation in Croatiaâs COVID-19 Response âEmina BužinkiÄ and Senada Å elo Å abiÄ
6 The Struggle over Masks on Twitter: an AC/DT Approach to Finnish Pandemic Governance
âJuha Koljonen, Kleber Carrilho, and Emilia Palonen
7 Bottom-Up Governance in Times of Crisis: Informal Practices and Migrant Agency in Germanyâs Assyrian Community during COVID-19 âSoner Barthoma
8 Managing Crises through Deepening Inequalities: the Neoliberal Labour Politics of the Turkish State during the COVID-19 Pandemic âErdem Damar
9 CODA: COVID-19 â a Neoliberal Pandemic
âAlfredo Saad Filho
Index
This book speaks to scholars across disciplines, institutional libraries, and policymakers, while also engaging a wider public and activist audience concerned with crisis governance, inequality, and the future of state-society relations.