Table Of ContentPsychosocial Perspectives
on Community
Responses to Covid-19
This highly topical edited book documents the community response to Covid-19 across
national contexts, exploring the widespread development and mobilisation of
community initiatives and groups. It provides rich analysis of case studies from the
Global North and South, including South Africa, the USA, India, China, Mexico, Brazil,
Italy, Australia, the UK, Turkey, and Argentina.
The Covid-19 pandemic motivated a significant community response globally, with
the widespread development and mobilisation of “bottom up” community initiatives and
groups. These community responses were an essential yet often unseen and unrecognised
means by which people survived the pandemic. This book asks questions such as how
were community responses to Covid-19 shaped by national, cultural, and political
processes and phenomena; how did community responses to Covid-19 interact with
public policies, on health, education, and social welfare; and what are the likely political
implications of the community response to Covid-19? Discussing the provision of
abortion care in Latin America, the support to marginalized communities in Kolkata, and
the mobilisation of carnival “krewes” in New Orleans, to give a few examples, the volume
adopts and develops a novel socio-cultural psychological approach, weaving together
contributions from scholars working in diverse disciplinary fields.
The volume highlights the importance of integrating multiple levels of analysis,
including psychological, sociological, and political/ideological, to investigate how
communities respond to crises such as the Covid-19 pandemic, and how they can plan
for and manage future crises. It is essential reading for academics and students in
psychology and the social sciences, as well as policy-makers, charities, and third-sector
organisations.
Emma O’Dwyer is a senior lecturer in political psychology at the University of
Greenwich, London, UK. Her research interests include how people understand and
orient towards issues like foreign policy and military intervention, and political par-
ticipation, citizenship, and social change, examined frequently through the lens of
social representations theory.
Luiz Gustavo Silva Souza is an associate professor in social psychology at Fluminense
Federal University, Brazil. His research interests involve social representations, identities,
and practices; ideology, active minorities, and mutual aid; the social-psychological un-
derstanding of health issues and contexts, action research, veganism, and human-animal
relations.
Psychosocial Perspectives
on Community
Responses to Covid-19
Networks of Trust and Social Change
Edited by Emma O’Dwyer and
Luiz Gustavo Silva Souza
Designed cover image: Getty
First published 2023
by Routledge
4 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, Oxon OX14 4RN
and by Routledge
605 Third Avenue, New York, NY 10158
Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business
© 2023 selection and editorial matter, Emma O’Dwyer and Luiz Gustavo
Silva Souza; individual chapters, the contributors
The right of Emma O’Dwyer and Luiz Gustavo Silva Souza to be identified
as the authors of the editorial material, and of the authors for their individual
chapters, has been asserted in accordance with sections 77 and 78 of the
Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or
utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now
known or hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in
any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing
from the publishers.
Trademark notice: Product or corporate names may be trademarks or
registered trademarks, and are used only for identification and explanation
without intent to infringe.
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
Names: O’Dwyer, Emma, editor. | Souza, Luiz Gustavo Silva, editor.
Title: Psychosocial perspectives on community responses to COVID-19 :
networks of trust and social change / edited by Emma O’Dwyer, Luiz
Gustavo Silva Souza.
Description: Abingdon, Oxon ; New York, NY : Routledge, 2023. |
Includes bibliographical references and index. |
Identifiers: LCCN 2022036738 (print) | LCCN 2022036739 (ebook) |
ISBN 9781032295060 (paperback) | ISBN 9781032295091 (hardback) |
ISBN 9781003301905 (ebook)
Subjects: LCSH: COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020‐‐-Political aspects‐‐Case
studies. | COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020‐‐-Social aspects‐‐Case studies. |
COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020‐‐-Psychological aspects‐‐Case studies. |
Community organization‐‐Case studies. | Political participation‐‐Case
studies. | Social psychology‐‐Case studies.
Classification: LCC RA644.C67 P792 2023 (print) | LCC RA644.C67
(ebook) | DDC 616.2/4144‐‐dc23/eng/20221114
LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022036738
LC ebook record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2022036739
ISBN: 978-1-032-29509-1 (hbk)
ISBN: 978-1-032-29506-0 (pbk)
ISBN: 978-1-003-30190-5 (ebk)
DOI: 10.4324/9781003301905
Typeset in Bembo
by MPS Limited, Dehradun
Contents
List of contributors viii
Foreword xiii
Acknowledgements xvi
1 Social Distance and Social Connection: A Psychosocial
Approach to the Community Responses to Covid-19 1
LUIZ GUSTAVO SILVA SOUZA AND EMMA O’DWYER
PART I
Psychosocial and Psychological Resources to the
Community Response to Covid-19 13
2 The Role of Emotions in Grassroots Activism in
Mexico City 15
TOMMASO GRAVANTE AND ALICE POMA
3 Resilience, Organisation, Engagement: Defying
Inequalities in Carrying Out Community Work in
Rio de Janeiro’s Favelas During the Covid-19 Pandemic 27
LUANA ALMEIDA DE CARVALHO FERNANDES, ALFREDO ASSUNÇÃO, AND
PEDRO PAULO GASTALHO DE BICALHO
4 Volunteering Motivation to Combat Covid-19: Evidence
from Community Responses in China 37
SUSAN SCHWARZ, GARY SCHWARZ, AND QING MIAO
vi Contents
5 Grassroots Movements and Covid-19 in Buenos Aires.
Vital Networking and Social Media in Times of Crisis 51
VICTORIA D’HERS
6 Collective Action, Protest, and Covid-19 Restrictions:
Offline and Online Community Participation in
Italy and Australia 66
CARLO PISTONI, MAURA POZZI, EMMA F. THOMAS, AND
CRAIG MCGARTY
7 How can Covid Mutual Aid Groups be Sustained Over
Time? The UK Experience 79
JOHN DRURY, MARIA FERNANDES-JESUS, GUANLAN MAO,
EVANGELOS NTONTIS, ROTEM PERACH, AND DANIEL MIRANDA
PART II
Communities Transforming Social Representations
and Public Policies 91
8 Reimagining Infrastructure of Care in the Pandemic Time:
Sketches from Kolkata 93
RAKTIM RAY, AMIT CHATTERJEE, KOUMI DUTTA, AND
DANA SOUSA LIMBU
9 Abortion Care in Times of Crisis: An Autonomous
Feminist Model in Latin America and the Caribbean 107
MARIANA PRANDINI ASSIS, ORIANA LÓPEZ URIBE,
RUTH ZURBRIGGEN, AND VERÓNICA VERA
10 Clash of Cultures: Bureaucracy Meets Localism,
Informality, and Trust in Responding to the Covid-19
Crisis in Cape Town 119
MANYA VAN RYNEVELD, ELEANOR WHYLE, AND LEANNE BRADY
11 Psychological, social, and political implications of UK
Covid-19 mutual aid groups 133
EMMA O’DWYER AND LUIZ GUSTAVO SILVA SOUZA
Contents vii
12 Re-Constructing the Meaning of Aid through the
Politicisation of Communities in a Welfare State:
The Psychological Responses to the Governmental
Aid Plans against Covid-19 in Turkey 145
S. BENGISU AKKURT, AHMET ÇOYMAK, AND YASIN KOÇ
13 Covid-19, Carnival, and Community in New Orleans, 2020 157
MARTHA RADICE
Index 170
Contributors
Sümeyra Bengisu Akkurt has a Bachelor’s degree from Istanbul Şehir
University and a Master’s from Kadir Has University, Turkey. She is a
research assistant at Abdullah Gül University and her research interests in
social psychology include social identities, prejudice, and discrimination,
collective action, and prosocial behavior.
Mariana Prandini Assis is an assistant professor of political science at the
Federal University of Goiás, Brazil. Her research focuses on feminist
political and legal theory, social movements, informality, and law and
politics.
Alfredo Assunção is a professor in psychology at Universidade do Estado do
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and has visiting positions at the Universidade
Eduardo Mondlani (Mozambique) and at Fundação Oswaldo Cruz,
working at the Centre for the Studies on Tobacco and Health of the
National Public Health School Sérgio Arouca.
Amit Chatterjee is an associate professor at the Department of Geography at
Sidho-Kanho-Birsha University (SKBU), India. Amit has successfully
completed a number of collaborative research and consultancy projects,
including those on urban co-benefits (UNU, Japan) and politics of care in
pandemic time (UCL, UK).
Pedro Paulo Gastalho de Bicalho is a specialist in legal psychology and an
associate professor at the Psychology Institute of the Federal University of
Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. He is also a visiting professor at Eduardo Mondlane
University (Mozambique), San Carlos University (Guatemala), and the
Republic University (Uruguay).
Leanne Brady works as an embedded researcher in Emergency Medical
Services (EMS), the Western Cape Government’s public ambulance
service in South Africa, and is completing a PhD in Health Policy and
Systems Research. She was involved in a Covid-19 mutual aid network –
Cape Town Together – and a mobile vaccination initiative known as the
Vaxi Taxi.
Contributors ix
Ahmet Çoymak is a transnational peace activist and peace psychologist. He is
currently affiliated with and the founder of the School of Psychology at
Abdullah Gul University, Turkey. His primary interests include the content
of the social self, gender relationships, civic engagement, political trust,
stereotyping, and prejudice.
Victoria D’hers is a professor at the University of Buenos Aires, and National
University of La Plata, Argentina, and an adjunct researcher at the National
Council for Scientific and Technical Research of Argentina, and the Centre
for Sociological Research and Studies. Her research interests include
sociology of body/emotions, and environmental sociology.
John Drury is a professor of social psychology at the University of Sussex,
UK. He has been studying the psychology of and behaviour in crowd
events for nearly 30 years – including in emergencies and disasters, protests
and social movements, religious festivals, music, and sports events.
Koumi Dutta completed a Ph.D in preventative and social health and is
presently associated with a premier medical college of Kolkata, India. Koumi
has worked as a volunteer for Quarantined Students Youth Network from its
inception. Her research interest is in epidemiological studies related with
health and physiological behaviour.
Luana Almeida de Carvalho Fernandes has a background in social psychology
and is currently an environmental, social, and corporate governance analyst at
the Federation of Industry of Rio de Janeiro, Brazil and a member of the
Childhood and Youth Axis.
Maria Fernandes-Jesus is a lecturer at York St John University (UK) and an
associate researcher at the Centre for Social Research and Intervention
(CIS-Iscte, Portugal). Her research interests broadly relate to collective
action, participation, and climate justice, particularly how communities
resist and overcome social injustice and power inequalities.
Tommaso Gravante is a researcher at the Interdisciplinary Research Centre
on Sciences and Humanities (CEIICH), UNAM, Mexico. His main
research interests concern the role of emotion in protest and social
movements, and the biographic consequence of protest.
Yasin Koç (he, him) is an assistant professor of social psychology at the
University of Groningen, Netherlands. His main research interests include
privilege acknowledgment, multiple conflicting identities, coping with
stigma, and experiences of and reactions to emancipation.
Oriana López Uribe is a pansexual feminist from Mexico and holds a degree
in ocial communication from UAM-Xochimilco. Her expertise on sexual
and reproductive justice is focused on narrative change, access to education,
and health services.
