Power and the pandemic: a perspective from communication and social psychology

摘要

The Covid-19 pandemic has overturned health, economic, and social systems everywhere in the world. As happens in a crisis, particularly one of this magnitude, this one has shown the best and the worst in individuals, groups, and larger entities like nations. Social identity has loomed large in the way people look at the world, as borders close and people start to fear each other. In this paper, we approach the Covid-19 pandemic from the perspective of communication and social psychology. Mowlana (this Issue) calls for more consideration of soft forms of power, and we support this call. We also note some of the risks involved with neglecting other sources of power, and in particular the interactions between various types of power. Finally, we make some suggestions for applying this approach to social-science research on Covid-19 and its consequences.