From the bubonic plague to the Spanish flu to the Covid-19 pandemic, governments have historically used lockdowns as a response measure to ...
From the bubonic plague to the Spanish flu to the Covid-19 pandemic, governments have historically used lockdowns as a response measure to public health emergencies. At the heart of a “lockdown” is a government mandating restrictions on behaviour. However, beyond the immediate consequences of lockdowns on livelihoods, they may leave a lasting legacy on a critical aspect of the human condition: control.
During this pandemic, long periods of isolation away from daily routines have for many, created a sudden loss of control and agency, engendering feelings of helplessness, emotional labour and anxiety. The uncertainty around the spread of the virus has compounded this loss of control even further.
As countries prepare to emerge from lockdowns, we pose the question: what, if any, will the reclamation of control look like over time? Will the shared experience in lockdowns manifest in a greater mobilisation and activism for social causes (e.g. protests), or will it take the form of greater dissent versus trust in authority? We seek to initiate an exploration of these questions and the ways that the pandemic will impact on our collective psychology.
The importance of control
A key aspect of any individual’s psychosocial make-up is agency and control. Psychologists distinguish between two types of individual control:...
