Contextualising coronavirus geographically

Matthew Sparke, Dimitar Anguelov

2020Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers86 citationsDOI Open Access PDF

Abstract

This editorial introduces a special virtual issue aimed at providing online access to articles that can contribute to the work of coming to geographical terms with the COVID‐19 pandemic. It outlines seven sub‐themes of enquiry and analysis that are especially useful for contextualising coronavirus geographically. These are explored in turn as geographies of: (1) infection, (2) vulnerability, (3) resilience, (4) blame, (5) immunisation, (6) interdependence, and (7) care. In each case, connections are made between publications that are included in the special virtual issue and other more recent writings related specifically to COVID‐19. In an effort to make these connections as useful as possible to geographers who have been drafted into online teaching in and about the pandemic, hyperlinks are used throughout to highlight additional online resources and reports.

Topics & Concepts

PandemicCoronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)BlameVulnerability (computing)Sociology2019-20 coronavirus outbreakResilience (materials science)Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)Work (physics)Public relationsCoronavirusPsychological resiliencePolitical scienceMedia studiesPsychologyComputer scienceComputer securityMedicineSocial psychologyEngineeringVirologyPhysicsPathologyMechanical engineeringDiseaseInfectious disease (medical specialty)OutbreakThermodynamicsCOVID-19 epidemiological studiesCOVID-19 Pandemic ImpactsEmployment and Welfare Studies