COVID-19 from the Margins
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COVID-19 FROM THE PANDEMICMARGINS INVISIBILITIES, POLICIES AND RESISTANCE IN THE DATAFIED SOCIETY Theory on Demand #40 COVID-19 from the Margins. Pandemic Invisibilities, Policies and Resistance in the Datafied Society Editors: Stefania Milan, Emiliano Treré and Silvia Masiero Cover design: Katja van Stiphout Design and E-Pub development: Tommaso Campagna, Evelien van Nieuwenhoven Printer: Tuijtel, Hardinxveld-Giessendam Published by the Institute of Network Cultures, Amsterdam, 2021 ISBN PaperBack: 978-94-92302-72-4 ISBN E-Pub: 978-9492302-73-1 Contact Institute of Network Cultures Phone: +3120 5951865 Email: [email protected] Web: http://www.networkcultures.org Download this publication freely at: networkcultures.org/publications This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC), under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No.639379-DATACTIVE; ( https://data-activism.net) This publication is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial- NoDerivatives 4.0 International (CC BY-NC-SA 4.0) carbon neutral carbon neutral print production natureOffice.com | NL-001-JMAGTBU NL-001-JMAGTBU print production www.natureOffice.com In memoriam Mario Scapin (1923-2019), partigiano e maestro Sergio Roncallo-Dow (1979-2020), investigador and all those who fought from and for the margins “Sometimes when I'm alone I wonder aloud If you're watching over me Some place far abound” (Cemetery Gates, Pantera) 4 THEORY ON DEMAND #40 PRAISE FOR THE BOOK It is already apparent that the COVID-19 crisis is hitting marginalised and disadvantaged communities and populations especially hard. This groundbreaking book trains the spot- light on these social groups, speaking not simply for or about them, but allowing them a voice. The authors offer valuable insights into how data activism can generate new ways of fighting back and achieving visibility. Deborah Lupton, SHARP Professor, Leader, the Vitalities Lab Centre for Social Research in Health and Social Policy Research Centre UNSW Node Leader, ARC Centre of Excel- lence for Automated Decision-Making + Society, University of New South Wales, Sydney (Australia) In the age of Big Data, it is becoming clear that the emerging algorithmic rationalities that increasingly dominate much of who we are and what we do continue to be embedded in colonialist onto-epistemic structures that classify, maim, re-victimize, and make invisible whole populations, groups and regions. The fact that who counts and what’s counted counts is thus truer than ever before. From migrants and refugees to slum dwellers, from LGBTQ+ persons and women affected by domestic violence to marginal communities in the North and the wretched in the Global Souths, COVID-19 from the Margins caringly and thoughtfully demonstrates why the multiplicity we call “the poor” is more than ever at the receiving end of the worst effects of globalized, patriarchal/colonial racist capitalism. But they are not passive victims, for their everyday forms of activism and re-existence, including their daily tweaking of the digital for purposes of community, care, and survival, has incredible insights about design and digital justice that this book takes to heart as we strive to undo the lethal effects of “the first pandemic of the datafied society.” Arturo Escobar, Professor of Anthropology Emeritus, University of North Carolina, Chap- el Hill (US) & Adjunct Professor, PhD Program in Design and Creation, Universidad de Caldas, Manizales (Colombia) So many lives, so many deaths: this significant work is a spectacular experiment, bringing widely differing perspectives to bear on the complex, difficult and novel issues presented by a pandemic that is transforming our world. Brilliantly experimental in design and exe- cution, this moving work casts beams of light into the complex, tragic and global phenom- enon that is COVID-19. Monroe Price, Senior Associate, Centre for Socio-Legal Studies, University of Oxford (UK) COVID-19 FROM THE MARGINS 5 I whole-heartedly endorse this timely and important book which aims to give voice to silenced groups during the current global COVID-19 crisis. This book adopts an inclusive approach by gathering hitherto untold stories from marginalised communities across the world about how the current pandemic interacts with the complex cycles of poverty and inequality within which they are embedded. The book is indeed a welcome antidote to the dominant narrative of managing the pandemic by counting, measuring and quantifying the costs incurred to mainstream economic activity. The narratives from the field collated by the authors are not merely ‘stories’ but can contribute precious knowledge and policy stimulus to correct the gross negligence of societies to address inequalities that exist in wealth, income and power across the world and accentuated further as a result of COV- ID-19. Shirin Madon, Associate Professor of Information Communication Technologies and Socio-Economic Development, London School of Economics and Political Science (UK) A timely, thought-provoking intervention that anyone interested in digital narratives from the COVID-19 era, particularly those emerging from the Global South, should surely pay attention to. Through this volume, Stefania Milan, Silvia Masiero and Emiliano Treré have once again demonstrated why they remain recognized, to-go-to experts on all things digital. Bruce Mutsvairo, Professor of Journalism, Auburn University (US) & Visiting Professor at the University of Free State in South Africa This important book gives us what mainstream media sources too often have failed to offer: insights into how those in the global South have experienced the COVID crisis and its aftermath. Shared in their own words and languages, the book explores the effects of da- tafied pandemic policies on everyday life, highlighting inequities of the present as well as the alternative epistemological and cultural resources that communities have leveraged while imagining a more equitable future. Lynn Schofield Clark, Professor and Chair, University of Denver and President, Associa- tion of Internet Researchers 6 THEORY ON DEMAND #40 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This book is brought to you by the Big Data from the South Research Initiative (BigData- Sur), which was tasked with decolonizing how we understand datafication and surveil- lance. Launched by Stefania Milan and Emiliano Treré in 2017 in Cartagena de Indias (Colombia), BigDataSur has brought together researchers, practitioners, and activists to critically explore the intersections between data, technology, and the plurality of Souths that constitute our world. A number of funders have supported our work. This project has received funding from the European Research Council (ERC), under the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation program (grant agreement No. 639379-DATACTIVE; https://data-activism. net). In addition, the blog platform COVID-19 from the Margins was assisted by the Amster- dam School of Cultural Analysis (ASCA) at the University of Amsterdam (The Netherlands), and the School of Journalism, Media and Culture (JOMEC) at Cardiff University (UK). The book was made possible by funding from the Research Priority Areas Amsterdam Centre for European Studies (ACES) and Global Digital Cultures (GDC) at the University of Amsterdam. We wish to also thank the institutions who did not fund this initiative because it was, for example, “too international”; their lack of support made us volunteer our time and labour but encouraged us to endure. We learned that if a project funding line on a topic does not yet exist, it means that research is sorely needed. We are indebted to Geert Lovink and his team (Tommaso Campagna in particular) of the Institute of Network Cultures at the Amsterdam University of Applied Sciences (The Neth- erlands) for enthusiastically supporting this project from the start. We share their commit- ment to critical theory and openness. It is an honour to be able to leave our mark in their edgy “Theory on Demand” series. We wish to wholeheartedly thank our amazing copy-editors Andrew R. Schrock from Indel- ible Voice (English), Nicolás Fuster (Spanish), Sergio Barbosa (Portuguese), and Giulia Polettini (Chinese). We are grateful to the outlets that co-published, re-published, or pub- lished before us some of the contributions that appear in this volume, particularly the independent global media organization openDemocracy (with special thanks to Rosemary Bechler, and Breno Bringel and Geoffrey Pleyers and their openMovements series). Our gratitude extends also to the members of the DATACTIVE team who assisted us over these months, especially Jeroen de Vos, Zhen Ye, Guillén Torres and Yiran Zhao. Special thanks to Nicolás Fuster, who has been supporting the editorial team since the inception of the blog. Leontien Cremers, Astrit Blommestijn, and the leadership teams of Research Priority Areas ACES and GDC at the University of Amsterdam also deserve a mention. COVID-19 FROM THE MARGINS 7 Finally, we would like to acknowledge and sincerely thank all the authors who accepted our invitation to share their stories in these strange and difficult times. Together, we took part in an urgent experiment to make space, give voice, and lend an ear to the people and communities that remain at the margins of collective care. While so much more remains to be done, we are proud of what we accomplished together. CONTENTS Praise for the Book 4 Acknowledgements 6 Introduction: COVID-19