8: How Stigma Emerges and Mutates: The Case of Long COVID Stigma
Hannah Farrimond, Mike Michael
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Introduction
How do new stigmas emerge? How do they relate to existing stigma? Why are we seeing an emergent devaluation and discrimination of people who have long COVID, given how common it is to have experienced COVID-19? This chapter explores these questions using the ‘stigma mutation’ theory that I (HF) have proposed elsewhere (Farrimond, 2021).
Stigma mutation theory suggests that the emergence of stigma, and how stigma changes over time, can be understood along three dimensions: ‘lineage’ (how stigma is linked to other stigmas and histories of stigma); ‘variation’ (how stigma changes emerge in relation to differing environments and cultures); and ‘strength’ (how stigma can intensify or weaken over time). In this chapter, we propose an extension of this theory by suggesting that these dimensions are interrelated; stigmas constitute a dynamic ‘assemblage’ of connections which are both predictable (what we call ‘territorialised’) and unpredictable and disrupted (what we call ‘de-territorialised’).
In other words, there are multiple relations of connections gathering to form and reform stigmas. Some are expected, given what we know about the persistence of stigma, while others are unexpected, creating complex new effects.
To explore the usefulness of this theorisation, we explain how and why long COVID stigma (Pantelic et al, 2022) has come about. We suggest long COVID stigma shows clear continuity with existing stigmas related to chronic illness, gender, poverty, State dependence, and inactivity in neo-capitalist societies. Simultaneously, long COVID stigma is being de-territorialised (or disrupted) in a multiplicity of ways, for example, by activists and unpredictable events.
We also consider the symbolic value of any given stigma. For instance, long COVID stigma may be amplified in the face of a collective desire to forget COVID-19, yet stigma may also lessen via active resistance and/or cultural change.
Link | PDF (Chapter from Recalibrating Stigma) [Open Access]
Hannah Farrimond, Mike Michael
[Line breaks added]
Introduction
How do new stigmas emerge? How do they relate to existing stigma? Why are we seeing an emergent devaluation and discrimination of people who have long COVID, given how common it is to have experienced COVID-19? This chapter explores these questions using the ‘stigma mutation’ theory that I (HF) have proposed elsewhere (Farrimond, 2021).
Stigma mutation theory suggests that the emergence of stigma, and how stigma changes over time, can be understood along three dimensions: ‘lineage’ (how stigma is linked to other stigmas and histories of stigma); ‘variation’ (how stigma changes emerge in relation to differing environments and cultures); and ‘strength’ (how stigma can intensify or weaken over time). In this chapter, we propose an extension of this theory by suggesting that these dimensions are interrelated; stigmas constitute a dynamic ‘assemblage’ of connections which are both predictable (what we call ‘territorialised’) and unpredictable and disrupted (what we call ‘de-territorialised’).
In other words, there are multiple relations of connections gathering to form and reform stigmas. Some are expected, given what we know about the persistence of stigma, while others are unexpected, creating complex new effects.
To explore the usefulness of this theorisation, we explain how and why long COVID stigma (Pantelic et al, 2022) has come about. We suggest long COVID stigma shows clear continuity with existing stigmas related to chronic illness, gender, poverty, State dependence, and inactivity in neo-capitalist societies. Simultaneously, long COVID stigma is being de-territorialised (or disrupted) in a multiplicity of ways, for example, by activists and unpredictable events.
We also consider the symbolic value of any given stigma. For instance, long COVID stigma may be amplified in the face of a collective desire to forget COVID-19, yet stigma may also lessen via active resistance and/or cultural change.
Link | PDF (Chapter from Recalibrating Stigma) [Open Access]
