Staying away, staying alive: Exploring risk and stigma of COVID-19 in the context of beliefs, actors and hierarchies in India

Joshi, B; Swarnakar, P

Staying away, staying alive: Exploring risk and stigma of COVID-19 in the context of beliefs, actors and hierarchies in India

Joshi, B Swarnakar, P

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Publisher:: SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD
Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Current Sociology, 2021, 69, (4), pp. 492-511
Issue Date:: 2021-07-01

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Joshi, B
dc.contributor.author	Swarnakar, P https://orcid.org/0000-0002-9532-1215
dc.date.accessioned	2021-11-09T06:54:37Z
dc.date.available	2021-11-09T06:54:37Z
dc.date.issued	2021-07-01
dc.identifier.citation	Current Sociology, 2021, 69, (4), pp. 492-511
dc.identifier.issn	0011-3921
dc.identifier.issn	1461-7064
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/151460
dc.description.abstract	The article examines the media discourse of risk and stigma which developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in India, employing the theoretical frameworks of Mary Douglas and Erving Goffman. Accessing the Factiva database archive, the authors analysed a total of 139 stigma-linked media reports, using the Discourse Network Analyzer (DNA) to identify thematic groups of beliefs and related actors contributing to the risk discourse on the contagion. The results exhibit a clear difference in opinion on various stigma-related beliefs among the individuals diagnosed or assumed susceptible to COVID-19, including the issue of disclosing identities. In India, domestic actors have dominated the media discourse, particularly national government agencies, rather than intergovernmental organisations or foreign governments. The media content analysis in this article shows that new hierarchies have emerged based on confirmed or suspected contact with the disease along with reinforcement of traditional myths and superstitions, leading to discrimination against the quarantined individuals, their families, healthcare staff and socially marginalised communities.
dc.language	English
dc.publisher	SAGE PUBLICATIONS LTD
dc.relation.ispartof	Current Sociology
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.1177/0011392121990023
dc.rights	info:eu-repo/semantics/restrictedAccess
dc.subject	1608 Sociology
dc.subject.classification	Sociology
dc.title	Staying away, staying alive: Exploring risk and stigma of COVID-19 in the context of beliefs, actors and hierarchies in India
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	69
utslib.for	1608 Sociology
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences/Social and Political Sciences Program
utslib.copyright.status	recently_added	*
dc.date.updated	2021-11-09T06:54:36Z
pubs.issue	4
pubs.publication-status	Published
pubs.volume	69
utslib.citation.issue	4

Abstract:

The article examines the media discourse of risk and stigma which developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in India, employing the theoretical frameworks of Mary Douglas and Erving Goffman. Accessing the Factiva database archive, the authors analysed a total of 139 stigma-linked media reports, using the Discourse Network Analyzer (DNA) to identify thematic groups of beliefs and related actors contributing to the risk discourse on the contagion. The results exhibit a clear difference in opinion on various stigma-related beliefs among the individuals diagnosed or assumed susceptible to COVID-19, including the issue of disclosing identities. In India, domestic actors have dominated the media discourse, particularly national government agencies, rather than intergovernmental organisations or foreign governments. The media content analysis in this article shows that new hierarchies have emerged based on confirmed or suspected contact with the disease along with reinforcement of traditional myths and superstitions, leading to discrimination against the quarantined individuals, their families, healthcare staff and socially marginalised communities.

Please use this identifier to cite or link to this item:

http://hdl.handle.net/10453/151460