Description
Book SynopsisThe COVID-19 pandemic interrupted a chaotic political and social landscape within the United States. Its arrival revealed cracks in longstanding neoliberal narratives. In this book, the authors utilize critical theory to analyze the collapse of these hyper-individualistic narratives within the media, in the broad areas of economics, the nuclear family, and authoritarian populism and through the topics of scapegoating China, capitalist class economic messaging, the essential worker, the family under shutdown, the spread of conspiracy theories, and the ideologies of the COVID-19 protests. The book conclude with commentary on the significance of the George Floyd protests and their connection to the pandemic.
Table of Contents1 Introduction: What the COVID-19 Pandemic Has Revealed 2 Blame China: Trump and Anti-Asian Sentiment during COVID-19 1 Introduction 2 Ineptitude, Lies and Conspiracy Theories 3 Trump’s History of Racism 4 Asian Stereotypes Overview 5 The Media Construction of China as Economic Powerhouse 6 Treatment of Asians during COVID-19 7 Conclusion 3 Work or Die: The Dominance of the Capitalist Class in Determining Media Messaging around COVID-19 1 Introduction 2 Compartmentalization 3 Magical Thinking 4 “COVID Fatigue” 5 Subsidizing Normalcy 6 Conclusion 4 From “Disposable” to “Essential”: A Critical Analysis of the Worker 1 Introduction 2 The Value of the Worker 3 Perception of the Worker 4 Effects of COVID-19 on the Black and Latinx Worker 5 Big Business and Media Hypocrisy 6 Conclusion 5 Shutdown Meltdown: How the Quarantine Has Revealed the Ideological Collapse of the Nuclear Family Model 1 Introduction 2 Neoliberalism and the Nuclear Family 3 Existing Inequities 4 Do It Yourself 5 Conclusion: Reconsidering Capitalism 6 Misleading the Populace in the Age of the Coronavirus 1 Introduction 2 Laying the Groundwork 3 Fox and the COVID-19 Misinformation Machine 4 Trump, M.D. and the (Non) Experts 5 COVID-19 Conspiracy Theories 6 Conclusion 7 Unmasked: A Dialectical Exploration of the COVID-19 Protests 1 Introduction 2 Background 3 Core Themes 4 Conclusion 8 Conclusion: The George Floyd Protests as a Rejection of “Returning to Normal” 1 The Tipping Point 2 There’s No Going Back Index
