Field Notes
The Plague and the Wrath
By Charles ReeveThis is a mass strike without “masses,'' and worse, without any collective, subversive force. It is probably fair to say that we are living through the first rumblings of a general collapse of this society organized around destructive production for profit.
New Pandemic, Old Story
By Ana V. Diez RouxOne of the most remarkable aspects of the COVID-19 pandemic is the way it has made visible and concrete the links between the social, economic, and political systems we have created for ourselves and our health. These links have been manifested both in the effects of the pandemic itself as well as in the ways we have responded (or failed to respond) to it.
Their Money or Your Life
By Paul MattickThe new virus, easier for the rich to guard against and to treat when stricken, illuminates the depth of social inequality and the general subordination of everyday life, including the requirements of human and animal health, to “the economy,” as we call the system subordinating the production of goods and services to the need of capitalist investors to accumulate profits.
The Numbers Must Have Context
By Natalie BakerViruses do not know logic other than replication. But they are deeply attracted to distinct patterns of human behavior.
A Disaster Foretold
By Pavlos RoufosLeaving aside the ease with which officials adopted the monstrosity of describing migrants/refugees as an “invasion” force, a form of discourse monopolized until recently by the extreme right, a parallel observation is warranted: there was nothing sudden about what happened in March 2020.
Viral Biopolitics
By Rachel NelsonWhat happens within the relationships of power and biological life when death runs rampant?
