“‘During covid’ is now”: Covid realism in a “back-to-normal” world

Sammanfattning

COVID-19 and its impacts have become a defining characteristic of the current decade, and yet today it has become something that people often avoid talking, thinking, or learning about. People who are aware of COVID-19 and its impacts in the present day and who choose to behave in ways that are congruent with this knowledge often refer to themselves as being “covid realists.” In the face of widespread COVID-19 misinformation, these people have built community networks, which are largely based online, to spread scientific information, offer emotional support, give tips and advice, and much more. A large focus of these spaces is on supporting the wellbeing of people who are at a high risk for health problems from COVID-19, which includes many marginalized groups. This thesis focuses on the question of how do covid realists resist the harmful norms and systems that surround them? The “how” of this question included people’s reasonings for being covid realists (how they became covid realists in the first place, and how they continue despite pressure not to be), people’s everyday habits (how they take precautions and how this affects their everyday lives), and the roles of spaces created by covid realists (how covid realists come together to act on their values). These aspects are examined primarily through people’s relationships to harmful societal norms established prior to the COVID-19 pandemic, interactions between systems of inequality and COVID-19, actions to imagine and create better worlds, and willingness to go out of their way to help others.