Uncertain Perspectives and Changing Strategies towards a Pandemic. The Covid-19 Crisis in Tales of the Everyday in Africa

Panel discussion organised for the Swiss Society of African Studies by Tobias Haller, Didier Péclard, Chinwe Ifejika Speranza, Natalie Tarr

What is a pandemic in African contexts? How does the everyday of citizens look like, what are their ideas and how was their day-to-day influenced by measures imposed from above? Or how is it to live in a place where Corona is denied officially or does not seem to exist? How are the impacts of these measures perceived in the grey zone between discourses of epidemiological or political reason? What local and global disparities does the pandemic narrative hide or in contrary bring to light? What strategies did people adopt to maintain their livelihoods and wellbeing despite the uncertainties surrounding the pandemic and how effective were they? How do citizens react to and cope with the security response by public authorities?

The SSAS will organize a transdisciplinary event on these issues, providing a platform for diverse speakers presenting and discussing their perspectives on the insecurities, discourses and strategies linked to pandemics and especially the current Covid-19 context: A nurse in a large, state-run hospital in Burkina Faso or a researcher in an equally large university in Mozambique, NGO employees, a seamstress, workers at WHO, and taxi drivers tell their stories of how they have experienced and maneuvered Covid-19 at work and in their daily lives. They will present their views either in a series of short inputs in the first part or during a round table discussion at the end of the event. 

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