Sociology of the “Margin” Amid the Corona Virus
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Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights SOCIOLOGY OF THE “MARGIN” AMID THE CORONA VIRUS Fear, Precariousness and Expectations A study by Maher Hanin Translated into English by Imed Bouslama April 2020 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The conduct and the completion of this study in such a record time are made possible thanks to the participants and respondents who willingly accepted to be part of this study and to give their informative testimonies during a critical period when conducting field is a bit challenging. Special thanks to my friends who have facilitated reaching the participants. They did so because they enthusiastically embraced the theme of the study. Thanks to my friends who have always been supportive either through valuable pieces of advice or discussing the arguments elaborated in the study. I hope that this study, which adds to the various analytical and research projects conducted by the Tunisian Forum for Economic and Social Rights, is just the first contribution as part of a larger project for the post- pandemic period to raise issues related to development, democracy, social justice from theoretical and practical perspectives in the short to medium term. 2 Introduction Main issue Theoretical and conceptual framework Methodology I. Social margins in the midst of the storm I.1.The untimely epidemic: Indifference, fear, and severe anxiety I.2.Sub-Saharan African immigrants: The end of racism? I.3.Isolated and forgotten rural areas fight Corona virus I.4.Involuntary unemployment, fragile employment: When the epidemic adds to the suffering I.5.Structuralism I.6.Monopoly, speculation and corruption: When the poor pay the highest price I.7.Popular neighborhoods: A complex reality and a different daily life II. The Expectations: What State for what society? II.1.Social solidarity after the Revolution II.2 A Social democratic state or chaos 3 III. From the local to the global: Three preliminary conclusions III.1“Organized” society and the sociology of the margins in Tunisia: Ten years after the revolution III.2. Economic and Social rights: The new compass III.3.Economic and Social rights: A new frontier III.4.The limits of individualism, the return of the state and the importance of the common Conclusion 4 INTRODUCTION Humanity has never faced its tragic reality as it is the case these days. This time, the enemy is not a world war with its frightful casualties, economic and financial crises with their dreadful legacies, nor it is a natural disaster with limited effects that spreads slowly such as hurricanes, earthquakes, volcanoes. Humanity is facing a global epidemic that took by surprise all governments and nations worldwide. Throughout history, humanity has faced many epidemics and paid a high human price. The Black Death, also known as the Pestilence and the Plague, peaking in Europe from 1347 to 1348 was the most deadly pandemic recorded in human history. The toll reached one third of the population of Europe (25 million out of 75 million people in Europe). The Spanish flu in 1918 resulted in an estimated death toll of around 50 million to 100 million that is 5% of the total world population. In 2002-2003, humanity went through SARS and Ebola in Central and West Africa which affected one third of the population and took the lives of 11 thousand people. Then humanity was challenged by acquired immunodeficiency syndrome(AIDS). At present, there are nearly 40 million people affected worldwide, 25 million of them from African countries while 95% of the affected people come from poor countries. Last but not least, humanity has also faced environmental disasters due to unreasonable use of nuclear energy such as the Chernobyl disaster in April 1986. All these disasters are 5 painful memories whose real and psychological impacts are still alive or still untold. These crises highlighted humanity’s lethargy and outraged politicians, doctors and ecologists while researchers, thinkers and scholars studied, analyzed these crises and drew several lessons. During these crises, the social and economic value systems as claimed by Edgar Morin1 were challenged, scrutinized and criticized. Once the crisis or the epidemic was over, the world regained its equilibrium, stability and the unrestrained pace of its industries, technologies and markets. The calls and pleas of thinkers, environmentalists and critics to revisit the social and economic policies went unheard. As soon as humanity overcame the fallout of the crises, the world has been bent on accelerating the pace of technological and industrial developments and investing more and more money on military manufacturing. The world has also witnessed a hectic urbanization with the rise of global mega cities2 marked by hectic economic activities and dense population groupings. All these developments have been accompanied by rugged individualism, unfair competition, and the social costs of government austerity 1 A French philosopher and sociologist who has been internationally recognized for his work on complexity and "complex thought, and for his scholarly contributions to such diverse fields as media studies, politics, sociology, visual anthropology, ecology, education, and systems biology. He holds degrees in history, economics, and law. Though less well known in the anglophone world due to the limited availability of English translations of his over 60 books, Morin is renowned in the French-speaking world, Europe, and Latin America.(Wikipedia). 2 The notion of global cities was first suggested by Saskia Sassen, the global cities that are included in the globalization process concentrate all the central tasks of the management of huge firms and services for companies. 6 policies as a global recipe imposed worldwide by international financial institutions. The last shock, which called into question the fundamentals of modern capitalism, was the crisis of 2008 following the Arab Spring uprisings which inspired a comprehensive global movement “Degagism/ political clearance” spreading from Spain to Wall Street .This movement united 99% of the world population against a tiny minority of 1% who rule, rob and exploit. Despite these successive crises, wars and famines during the 20th century and the beginning of the 21st century, humanity seems to have been under the influence of an arrogant dogmatic doctrine based on the theoretical premises of Francis Fukuyama’s “End of History” 3and Mary Shelley’s “Last Man.”4 The pillars of this doctrine are Adam Smith’s “Invisible Hand”5 and the free and unfettered market able to correct itself by itself with no room for obsolete group and social ties since history is made by strong and smart people. In this world dominated by free market economics and the survival of the fittest, inequality is considered an inescapable fact and outcome and unintelligent, lazy and 3 The end of history is a political and philosophical concept that supposes that a particular political, economic, or social system may develop that would constitute the end-point of humanity's sociocultural evolution and the final form of human government. (Wikipedia). 4 The Last Man is an apocalyptic, dystopian science fiction novel by Mary Shelley, which was first published in 1826. The book describes a future Earth at the time of the late 21st Century, ravaged by an unknown pandemic which quickly sweeps across the world. (Wikipedia). 5 The invisible hand describes the unintended social benefits of an individual's self-interested actions, a concept that was first introduced by Adam Smith in The Theory of Moral Sentiments, written in 1759, invoking it in reference to income distribution. (Wikipedia). 7 dependent people are to blame for their poverty and precariousness.6 The first 100 days of the Corona virus epidemic has revealed the fragility of the world system and banned any movement within the social world for fear of infection, pain and death. The crisis also pushed politicians to make unprecedented decisions such as closing entire cities and isolating countries and asking armies to support the efforts of governments. During this crisis, the word war has been used many times in the speeches of government officials. All these transformations have been accompanied by preliminary attempts conducted by philosophers, psychologists and sociologists to understand, analyze, and foresee the impacts of the crisis. However, all nations have turned to their doctors, hospitals, laboratories and clinical research to counter the epidemic through a treatment or vaccine. Social and human sciences have an increasing appeal among many categories of people who are keen understanding the emerging phenomena as we are witnessing a complete reversal of our ways of living and our social relations, even the very meaning of life . The sociological interpretation and analysis of the reality, as expressed by Pierre Bourdieu7 , 6 In a public speech, the French president praised those who launch their business and those who are nothing. http:// www.lesinrocks.com/2017/07/news/ les-gens-qui-se-sont-rine-lexpression- qui-choque-demmanuel-macron Lenoir, R. (1989). Les exlus, un Francais sur dix. Seuil 1974. 7 Pierre Bourdieu was a French sociologist, anthropologist, philosopher and public intellectual. Bourdieu's major contributions to the sociology of education, the theory of sociology, and sociology of aesthetics have 8 cannot be simply a neutral or an indifferent analysis because of academic objectivity. Rather, it is at the heart of deep transformations which penetrate the whole social body. The theoretical act cannot be conducted away from the daily life of people. Theories are not elaborated in a “no-man’s land” social sphere and the theories cannot be drafted and cannot ever earn their explanatory power in social vacuums. The theories are woven in a special context that lift to the world the new problems. The task of the sociologist is, according to Bourdieu, is the scientific study of social relations, actions and manifestations through which society is formed and evolves.