The COVID-19 Pandemic in Asia and Africa. Societal Implications, Narratives on Media, Political Issues. Volume II: Society and Institutions

The present publication is part of a two volume series on the recent COVID-19 pandemic. It has been conceived as a critical reflection, in different disciplinary fields, on the social, institutional, and cultural impact of the recent COVID-19 pandemic in Asia and Africa. The issues presented here were first discussed as part of a larger research project at two conferences, held in Rome in June and October 2022. After extensive revision, these results have now been collected as fully developed articles in the current two volumes: the first focuses on the cultural, artistic, and media-related facets of the pandemic; the second on its social and institutional implications. This Volume II examines the effects of the health crisis on the socio-political landscape, addressing, among other themes, the responses of civil societies to the infection, the consequences of quarantines, the role of the pandemic in blurring the boundaries between democracy and authoritarianism. The articles cover a wide range of geographical regions, including Eastern Europe, the Middle East, the Indian subcontinent, Indonesia, China, Singapore, and Japan.