Emergent Agency in a Time of Covid-19

Concluded project in the Movements, Policy and the Politics of Inequality theme within the Politics of Inequality research programme

The COVID-19 crisis has led to a flood of written material and webinars. Most international coverage of the crisis in low- and middle-income countries concentrates on the impact of the disease and the official response, for example the impact of governments’ lockdown measures on citizens. What often goes missing is an examination of human agency – how individuals, communities and grassroots organisations respond to the new challenges, both of the disease and the official response, and how this agency is emerging or changing in its nature. The Emergent Agency in a Time of COVID-19 initiative looks at this missing element.