In the third of our pandemic-related panels, academics from the Faculty of Humanities and the Faculty of Social Sciences will outline and consider the asymmetrical effects of the pandemic which have seen the social contract in many different geographies come under intense pressure. Scenes of public protest have become commonplace, as government after government has failed to muster a response that protects their people. What precisely have been the experiences and responses of ordinary people as they are subjected to human rights abuses or simply not factored into policy solutions?

You can also participate in the live event online.

For online participation: https://smart.newrow.com/#/room/nty-432

Password: Survival20Leiden

Dr Stacey Links – The Asymmetrical Impacts of the Coronavirus and the Equality Agenda

Prior to covid-19, human rights frameworks have predominantly focused on violations in the global 'South'. The covid-19 pandemic, however, has revealed the existence of serious challenges to human rights across a much wider spectrum of states, including within the global 'North.' These include the 'blindspots' of systemic racism that limit the equal enjoyment of human rights within the developed (US, EU) as well as developing world (South Africa). This short talk will elucidate what covid-19 has underscored regarding systemic racism and its challenge to the achievement of equality. What do these cases have in common and where do they differ? It will reflect on whether human rights frameworks are viable to address systemic injustices of this nature and if not why not.

Dr Nicolas Blarel - Fallout from the Pandemic: the Experience of Indian Diasporas in the Gulf States

The global pandemic has intensified inequalities globally. In the Gulf states, the coronavirus pandemic has taken a particularly heavy toll on migrant labourers, especially coming from South Asia. In the case of immigrants who work as manual laborers and live in dormitory housing, the pandemic has heightened their concerns over unemployment, deportation, and infection. Over the past year, many have even chosen to return to India, leading some Indian states like Kerala to have to absorb this sudden return migration. In addition, xenophobia has been on the rise in Gulf countries as all residents are living in a state of heightened insecurity. I will discuss how the COVID-19 crisis has impacted Indian diasporic communities, their employment, their everyday lives in the Gulf, and their ties to their home state, India.

Dr Matthew Frear – Coronavirus, Legitimacy, and the Last Dictator in Europe: Protests in Belarus

After a quarter of a century consolidating authoritarian rule in Belarus, is the once resilient regime of President Lukashenka at risk of being swept away in the pandemic? Has the regime’s response to COVID-19 deprived it of its performance legitimacy, and contributed to citizens becoming unwilling to tolerate fraudulent claims of electoral legitimacy? How have the authorities, civic activists and street protestors in Belarus responded and adapted to the corona-times?