Dr Agata Komendant-Brodowska o społecznych konsekwencjach wirusa COVID-19
Dispite the cruelty of the current situation, Agata Komendant-Brodowska calls for a more optimistic view on the side effects of the COVID-19 crisis.
Since covid-19 started to spread, I’ve reacted twofold. Of course, this is a huge crisis, so, on the one hand I’ve been worried, sad and scared. On the other hand, there are a lot of massive social processes happening right now in front of our eyes, almost in ‘fast forward’ mode, so I’ve also been observing what is happening as a researcher interested in social dynamics. And I feel that this sociological lense helps me see, apart from all terrible things happening right now, how we as social animals are capable to deal with many challenges in times of crisis. We are rapidly learning new things (e.g. a massive shift to online education), we are communicating in new ways (video calls with someone we had never called before in that manner), coping with new limitations, redefining work and family life (suddenly very close to each other). We are dealing with the new pandemic reality both on an individual and societal level and this makes me more hopeful.