AustLit

'At home and abroad, the pandemic is wreaking social and political havoc. There’s anger in the streets in the metropolitan capitals, as pandemic deniers, anti-vaxxers and anti-statists combine forces to decry governmental control, cast aspersions on science, and make a stand for the individual. There’s anger at the borders, state and national, as lockdowns and lockouts disrupt economic networks and undermine profit, as well as established rhythms of social life, including assumptions about air travel to maintain dispersed, globalised families. There’s anger at what is perceived as poor guidance and inadequate provision, as governments not only struggle to cope with the scale of the health issues but, as with Australia’s federal government, reveal in their ideological commitments a more devil-may-care relationship to the people than the people ever understood it to be.' (Alison Caddick: Editorial introduction)