 Epidemics, pandemics, and social conflict: Lessons from the past and possible scenarios for COVID-19Remi Jedwab, Amjad Khan, Jason Russ and Esha D. Zaveri World Development, 2021, vol. 147, issue C Abstract: Since COVID-19 broke out, there has been renewed interest in understanding the economic and social dynamics of historical and more recent epidemics and pandemics, from the plagues of Antiquity to modern-day outbreaks like Ebola. These events can have significant impacts on the interplay between poverty and social cohesion, i.e. how different groups in society interact and cooperate to survive and prosper. To that effect, this paper provides a theory-driven overview of how social responses to past epidemics and pandemics were determined by the epidemiological and non-epidemiological characteristics of these outbreaks, with a particular focus on the conditions giving rise to scapegoating and persecution of minority groups, including migrants. We discuss existing theories as well as historical and quantitative studies, and highlight the cases where epidemics and pandemics may lead to milder or more severe forms of scapegoating. Finally, we conclude with a summary of priorities for future research on epidemics, pandemics and social conflict and discuss the possible effects and policy implications of COVID-19. Keywords: COVID-19; Epidemics; Pandemics; Disasters; Social conflict; Minority persecution (search for similar items in EconPapers) Downloads: (external link) Related works: Export reference: BibTeX RIS (EndNote, ProCite, RefMan) HTML/Text Persistent link: https://EconPapers.repec.org/RePEc:eee:wdevel:v:147:y:2021:i:c:s0305750x21002448 DOI: 10.1016/j.worlddev.2021.105629 Access Statistics for this article World Development is currently edited by O. T. Coomes More articles in World Development from Elsevier |
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