Tijdschrift voor Geschiedenis - Volume 137, Issue 2, 2024

How teleological thinking survived the pandemic

This essay starts from the observation that historians have remarkably uncritically followed the biopolitical logic behind the approach to the Covid-19 pandemic. It explores why our knowledge and understanding of the historical background thereof did not prevent most from going along with the idea that there was no alternative to it. I argue that historians too were stuck in a teleological notion of progress in which science and technology inexorably drive us towards an ever healthier life and longevity. That historians moreover often concurred with stigmatising and morally condemning those who did advocate an alternative approach can further be attributed to the dominance of a political-ideological framework in which criticism was automatically seen as contrary to the principles of the welfare state and to a specific interpretation of solidarity. It proves that really questioning the status quo requires a deeper reflection on our own ‘situatedness’ in (Eurocentric) modernity thinking.

Universal experiences?

This reflection examines the sedimented layer of experiences arising from the Covid-19 pandemic and how they foster heightened empathy, benefiting the hermeneutic tradition and, specifically, the history of experience. But there are also challenges. The pandemic has created a deeper connection between the present and the past, generating feelings of universality and shared experiences. This can lead to homogenisation, where the experiences of different times are not properly differentiated. Historians must be aware of this tendency. Nonetheless, this surge in empathy reveals historical insights that were not considered before the pandemic. It allows historians to understand past crises more empathetically, recognising the commonality of human experiences during difficult times; it presents an opportunity for richer historical interpretations and a deeper understanding of the human condition.

Social inequality in a highly mobile world. A post-Covid, historical perspective on everyday mobility

The Covid pandemic profoundly disrupted global and local mobility patterns. Commuting, a practice that has become increasingly common over the past century, suddenly stopped for many people. At the same time people in certain professions were forced to remain mobile, risky as that was. This raises questions about the inequalities that exist in our mobility systems. From access to modes of transport, the distribution of road space, or unequal risks, Covid made these patterns suddenly visible. In this article we review some of the historiography which has recently emerged around inequality and mobility.

Conspiracy theories and misinformation during the Covid-19 pandemic. New phenomenon or historical recurrence?

The coronavirus pandemic caused, in addition to its immediate demographic consequences, a high degree of social unrest. This unrest was intensified by the global spread of misinformation about the disease, primarily through the use of social media and the Internet. As early as February 2020, the World Health Organization described the situation as an ‘infodemic’, a flood of misinformation that spread fear to the public. Almost every aspect of the disease was contested and debated online, from its origins and potential cures to government guidelines and vaccine side-effects. In this article, we seek to understand how unique the Covid-19 ‘infodemic’ was, by comparing it to examples of misinformation and conspiracy theories during earlier pandemics. Did we witness a new social phenomenon due to the rise of the internet and social media, or do the spread of conspiracy theories and misinformation during pandemics form part of a repeated historical pattern?

Navigating the complexities of the Covid-19 pandemic

In this contribution, we discuss from the perspective of historical demography how the corona pandemic has led to new research themes and different approaches to existing themes. Examples include the effect of pandemics on social inequalities in mortality and fertility in the short as well as the long run. The corona pandemic has given historical-demographic research additional legitimacy as research into infectious diseases has suddenly attained heightened social relevance. Many publications have focused on the Spanish Flu, overshadowing research into other infectious diseases and causes of death, despite endemic diseases accounting for the majority of deaths in the past. In addition, more attention should be given to how cause-specific mortality data are registered and produced. We argue that historical-demographic research not only provides valuable insights into the Covid-19 pandemic and its aftermath but also underscores the need to continue expanding and deepening our knowledge of infectious diseases in the past and the present.

Corona collections in museums and archives. Observations and recommendations on contemporary collecting

Shortly after the outbreak of the Covid-19 pandemic, museums and archives worldwide started to document and ‘collect’ daily life, often with help of the public, to safeguard the ‘historical present’ for the future. In this contribution, we investigate ‘Covid-19 heritage collections’ as a form of contemporary collecting: acquiring heritage for the future in the present-day context. With Rotterdam as a case-study, we unravel different strategies with which Covid collections have been created, showing that different strategies lead to different results. Strikingly, ‘Unselective collecting’ with help of the public has been very inclusive as a strategy, but has resulted in less inclusive collections, in which many experiences and perspectives are underrepresented. We conclude with five practical recommendations to make both the Covid heritage collections as created, and contemporary collecting as a practice more meaningful and inclusive.

‘Help I am infected’. The illusion of an intelligent Dutch lockdown

On March 16, 2020, Prime Minister Rutte announced that the government was forced to switch from a strategy of local containment of outbreaks to a national strategy of maximum control. A week later, the first ‘intelligent’ national lockdown became a reality. In this contribution I will show that in the historical interaction between disease, health and social environment, connections are constantly made and severed between facts, opinions and expectations. As part of this historical process, the meanings attached to ‘infectious disease X’ are subject to change. I show how the Netherlands’ handling of the corona pandemic, and consequently the public health challenges, changed over time. Curfews and riots would erupt over the restrictions within the context of social amplification of conspiracy theories about the pandemic. At the same time there was a strong belief in a technological fix, with a magic bullet that would eliminate the virus. But Covid-19 turned out to be a fast-mutating virus that transformed continuously in response to human-environment interactions.