Running Head: ANNOTATED BIBLIOGRAPHY AND ESSAY PLAN 1

Annotated Bibliography and Essay Plan

Student’s Name

Institutional Affiliation

Date
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To create an understanding about the deficiency of science when faced with a pandemic

such as COVID-19, I will focus on how the U.S. government and politicians responded in terms

of relying solely on the advice given by specialist scientists. I will underscore on the increased

severity of COVID-19 particularly when politicians seemed not to have a stand on how to deal

with the pandemic. I will also attempt to justify why it was wrong for politicians to restrict their

appeals solely to virology, immunology, public health, epidemiology, and clinical medicine

while overlooking other pertinent areas like sociological, behavioral and economic sciences. In

other words, the discussion will attempt to show the correlation between narrow-minded

government and the severity of COVID-19. To address the role of political and social theory in

understanding reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic, I will divide the entire discussion into three

aspects: Society, science, and crisis.

In addressing the society, I will introduce the social democracy as a societal formation. In

particular, COVID-19 presents difficulties in how the alternative forms of society are addressed

by social theory. In the COVID-19 context, both categorize are in play: social democracy versus

neoliberalism and freedom versus totalitarianism. At stake is the clarification of the intervention

by the state either as democratic or authoritarianism. Specifically, I will focus on interpreting the

state intervention as democratic rather than authoritarian. On the science section, I will start by

looking at the way that the social theory uses the interpretation of Foucault to comprehend

COVID-19, and introduce the government actions in relation to science. The section centers

largely on the early period of COVID-19, and the reliance of the government on science while

overlooking other areas like sociological, behavioral and economic sciences. The phrase “we are

following the science” was repeatedly used by politicians and other players. Whilst science was

precious in battling COVID-19, the field alone is too narrow to serve as a platform that
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underpins overall government policy for addressing the pandemic. Therefore, I will evaluate the

harm caused by over relying on scientific advices alone in terms of COVID-19 severity. It is

apparent that COVID-19 developed a considerable crisis. The application of the social theory is

also appropriate in comprehending reactions to the COVID-19 pandemic. I will focus on

establishing that the crisis is real, generates social struggle, and is a likely turning point between

barbarism and socialism or communism. In particular, I will strive to disqualify the notion that

the crisis is socially developed rather than real. Instead, I will dispute the perception that the

crisis is only a social construction and marks the turning point between liberty and

totalitarianism. My overall objective is to establish that the political reliance on science along

accelerated the severity of COVID-19, and that the government intervention did not jeopardize

people’s democracy and freedom.

Bavel, J. J., Baicker, K., & Willer, R. (2020). Using social and behavioural science to support COVID-

19 pandemic response. Nature Human Behaviour volume , 4, 460–471.

The article examines the significance of the social and behavioral sciences in managing COVID-

19 crisis and its effects. Some of the important aspects addressed in the article about social-

political approaches to pandemic include political polarization. According to the authors,

polarization during the crisis may drive different factions of the population to arrive at varying

conclusions regarding the threat and effective actions. Nevertheless, the authors affirm that some

features of the crisis may help reduce polarization. For instance, COVID-19 not only underscores

a common identity with persons all threatened by a similar risk, but could also cultivate a sense

of shared fate. As a result, leaders can stress bipartisan support for COVID-19-affiliated

measures, thereby lessening polarization and enabling a less biased reasoning. Although the

article highlights why collective actions were taken and supported by everyone, it provides a
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vague conclusion.Overall, the article only urges for the necessity to employ behavioral and social

sciences approaches in battling crisis but does not suggest the precise method.

Delanty, G. (2020, May). Six political philosophies in search of a virus: of a virus: Critical perspectives

on the coronavirus pandemic. Retrieved April 1, 2022, from The London School of Economics

and Political Science: https://www.lse.ac.uk/european-institute/Assets/Documents/LEQS-

Discussion-Papers/LEQSPaper156.pdf

The article examines interesting questions for social and political responsibility posed by

COVID-19. The questions encompass the nature, as well as the limits of ethical accountability

entrusted to the state, human dignity, personal liberty, collective interests and state surveillance.

In particular, the article centers on the notion that as several nations globally declared states of

emergency, some questions constituted in political philosophy became highly pertinent. The

writings of Foucault on biopolitical securitization, as well as the Agamben’s belief of the state of

exception assumed a new reality, and so the classical disagreements of libertarianism and

utilitarianism. Some of the philosophical responses to the pandemic discussed by the author

include provocative interventions presented by Agamben, governance of life and death by

Latour, as well as the Kantian viewpoint of Hamermas on human dignity. The overall conclusion

made in the article is that the COVID-19 is more than a pathogen that endanger the lives of

several individuals, but democracy is also threatened by the latest experiments with emergency

governments.

Dubet, F. (2021). The return of society. European Journal of Social Theory , 24 (1), 3–21.

The article serves as a plea for the concept of society in sociological theory. The article affirms

that the face of lockdown has made each person to discover the value of social life. For instance,
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such actions by the government result in the suffering of solitude, as well as the disappearance of

rituals and collective experiences. According to the author, the COVID-19 as a health crisis is

only the initial step in a social and political crisis that will endure for a long time and will lead to

more victims and more deaths. Presumably, the article emphasizes that some of the actions taken

today in response to COVID-19 pandemic might have long-term impact. Some of the actions

taken by the government are described as part of the manipulation necessitated by needs and

more or less subtle forms of domination. Above all, the article stresses that the crisis has made

people to rediscover some of the people who were previously overlooked such as truck drivers,

caretakers, bakers, as well as cashiers. In nutshell, the author tries to indicate that the onset of

COVID-19 and the reactions that followed show the importance of a society

Leslie, M., Fadaak, R., Davies, J., Blaak, J., Forest, P., Green, L., et al. (2020). Integrating the social

sciences into the COVID-19 response in Alberta, Canada. BMJ Global Health , 5.

The article highlights the rapid integration of social scientists into COVID-19 response. The

article affirms that social scientists are vital contributors to public health crises across low-

income and middle-income nations. The article disputes the idea of confining health crises to

particular groups of persons such as specialist scientists. Instead, the authors underscore that task

shifting serves a fundamental aspect of pandemic health system responses globally. In other

words, the article suggests the necessity of involving other players or other fields instead of

sticking to the advice from specialist scientists. Also, the article suggests the need to adopt rapid

redistribution of clinical operations among a broad variety of medical personnel as part of task

shifting. Conclusively, the article holds on the significance of improving the system’s capacity to

comprehend and communicate with itself in the context of response. The limitations about the

article materialize through the encountered barriers which apparently limited the ability to collect
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adequate information. As a result, it was difficult to remain steadily involved and engaged across

several settings in the health system.

Silva, G. A., & Higuera, C. D. (2021). Political Theology and COVID-19: Agamben’s Critique of

Science as a New “Pandemic Religion”. Open Theology , 7.

The article examines the reaction by the philosopher Giogio Agamben toward COVID-19 and

the way it largely contrasts with most other viewpoints in the modern political philosophy. In

particular, Agamben asserts that the crisis is socially constructed to empower the executive

branch and promote authoritarianism. Science in the eyes of Agamben as illustrated in article is

likened to a form of religion which is disseminated through the media. The blind confidence in

science is not only apparent in the media conversation, but is also integrated in politics and

decision making, that is, to the landscape of power. The article concludes that Agamben’s

parception that in crisis the foundation of power is more aggressive is a wrong approach,

particularly in the case of COVID-19.

Walby, S. (2021). The COVID pandemic and social theory: Social democracy and public health in the

crisis. European Journal of Social Theory , 24 (1)

The article focuses on the development of social theory in response to the COVID-19 crisis. In

particular, the article addresses fundamental questions concerning social justice in the

connections of people to the society as raised by individuals like Delanty in his political

philosophy review. Delanty’s concern relates to views raised by Agamben, Zizek and Foucault

about crisis. Whereas Zizek holds that the crisis is real, and acts as the turning point between

barbarism and communism, Agamben asserts that the crisis is social constructed to empower the

executive branch of government, thereby creating a more authoritarian form of government. The
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article concludes that even though Agamben is right to allude that COVID-19 crisis is utilized in

sanction an extension of state powers, he is wrong to overlook the actual aspects of the pandemic

in death and sickness. The main limitation surfaces through the author’s inability to defend of

Agamben or Zizek’s position. Thus, whereas the article is considered appropriate, it fails to

present a precise answer about the actual picture of a crisis in relation to the government’s

actions.

Žižek, S. (2021). Pandemic!: COVID-19 Shakes the World. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley,.

The book centers on some of the harms presented by COVID-19 on the social structure regarding

political role. For instance, political decisions about social distance and isolation have destroyed

the societal fabric. According to article, strong government is needed during the time of

epidemics such as COVID-19 to facilitate large-scale measures such as quarantines. However,

enforcing these measures throws a large band of libertarians into imagining that quarantine is a

state of conspiracy, thereby battling their way out. The author also indicates that spread of

COVID-19 triggered other epidemic of ideological viruses including paranoiac conspiracy

theories, as well as explosion of racisms in the way governments reacted to COVID-19. In

particular, the book asserts that the onset of COVID-19 justified the legitimization of measures

of control and regulation that were previously unthinkable in Western democratic societies.

Overall, the book’s significance to the present research surfaces through an attempt by the author

to dispute Agamben’s perception of an epidemic as an opportunity to totalitarianism.

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References

Bavel, J. J., Baicker, K., & Willer, R. (2020). Using social and behavioural science to support COVID-

19 pandemic response. Nature Human Behaviour volume , 4, 460–471.

Delanty, G. (2020, May). Six political philosophies in search of a virus: of a virus: Critical perspectives

on the coronavirus pandemic. Retrieved April 1, 2022, from The London School of Economics

and Political Science: https://www.lse.ac.uk/european-institute/Assets/Documents/LEQS-

Discussion-Papers/LEQSPaper156.pdf

Dubet, F. (2021). The return of society. European Journal of Social Theory , 24 (1), 3–21.

Leslie, M., Fadaak, R., Davies, J., Blaak, J., Forest, P., Green, L., et al. (2020). Integrating the social

sciences into the COVID-19 response in Alberta, Canada. BMJ Global Health , 5.

Silva, G. A., & Higuera, C. D. (2021). Political Theology and COVID-19: Agamben’s Critique of

Science as a New “Pandemic Religion”. Open Theology , 7.

Walby, S. (2021). The COVID pandemic and social theory: Social democracy and public health in the

crisis. European Journal of Social Theory , 24 (1).

Žižek, S. (2021). Pandemic!: COVID-19 Shakes the World. Hoboken, New Jersey: Wiley,.