Dialectical Tensions of Sustainability and Health during the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Tale from Latin America

Adriana Angel, Lissette Marroquin-Velasquez and Sandra Idrovo
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Adriana Angel: School of Communication (Centro de Investigaciones de la Comunicación Corporativa Organizacional, CICCO), Universidad de La Sabana, Chia 250001, Colombia
Lissette Marroquin-Velasquez: School of Communication (Centro de Investigación en Comunicación, CICOM), Universidad de Costa Rica, San José 11501-2060, Costa Rica
Sandra Idrovo: INALDE Business School, Universidad de La Sabana, Chia 250001, Colombia

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 13, 1-17

Abstract: The purpose of this article is to discuss the relationship between sustainability and health in the context of the coronavirus pandemic in Latin America, the region with the second highest number of deaths due to COVID-19. After performing a dialectical analysis on mass media discourses about the pandemic, we argue that sustainability must be understood in relation to tensions such as (a) health and economy, (b) isolation and interconnectedness of health management, and (c) access to and excess of information about the pandemic. Based on this analysis, we suggest that if health is to be considered a fourth pillar of sustainability, it needs to be approached in close connection with these inseparable and irreducible tensions in order to broaden the way in which it has been approached in global sustainable development agendas and to recognize the role of individuals and communities in health issues.

Keywords: sustainability; dialectical analysis; health; COVID-19 pandemic; Latin America (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
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