COVID-19 Pandemic – Battle of Narratives: Social Constructivism as a Defence Mechanism
Keywords:
Czechia, Slovakia, Slovenia, COVID-19, Social constructivism, Social relativism
Abstract
The article analyses the development of the COVID-19 pandemic situation in Slovakia, Czechia and Slovenia in the frame of expert, political and administrative narratives. The argumentative part mainly focuses on the development of the narrative in Slovenia and uses the examples from the Czech Republic and Slovakia as the reference frame. Information was collected from the various national media outlets and organized into the comparative time frames and compared with the epidemiological data. Slovenian inconsistencies in communication patterns developed into the complete disintegration of the pandemic crisis management and into the struggle for the supremacy of personal political agenda. As a case study, the article shows the constructivist relativism through the comparison of data and government-media narrative. Thus, the article addresses the issues of relativism on the one hand and of narrative absolutism on the other. The main aim is a critical presentation of “a crisis event” in connection to the government authorities spin on an event according to their political goals. The given case, due to a rather short period, strong media coverage and high data availability, shows inconsistencies of epidemiological data interpretation, resulting in multiple realities, causing multiple responses that paralysed effective decision-making as well as effective policy measures.
References
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VENULEO, C., GELO, C. G. O. and SALVATORE, S. (2020). Fear, affective semiosis, and management of the pandemic crisis: COVID-19 as semiotic vaccine. In: Clinical Neuropsychiatry. Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 117-130.
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WILEY, N. (2003). The self as self‐fulfilling prophecy. In: Symbolic Interaction. Vol. 26, No. 4, pp. 501-513. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/si.2003.26.4.501.
WORLDOMETERS (2021). Coronavirus. [online]. Available at: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ [Accessed 25.3.2021].
APOSTOLIDIS, T., SANTOS, F., and KALAMPALIKIS, N. (2020). Society against COVID-19: challenges for the socio-genetic point of view of social representations. In: Papers on Social Representations. Vol. 29, No.2, pp. 1-14.
ARENDT, H. (2003). Resnica in laž v politiki. Ljubljana: Društvo Apokalipsa.
AYAß, R. (2017). Life-world, sub-worlds, after-worlds: The various ‘realnesses’ of multiple realities. In: Human Studies. Vol. 40, No. 4, pp. 519-542. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10746-016-9380-x.
BALANZÁ-MARTÍNEZ, V., KAPCZINSKI, F., DE AZEVEDO CARDOSO, T., ATIENZA-CARBONELL, B., ROSA, A. R., MOTA, J. C., and DE BONI, R. B. (2021). The assessment of lifestyle changes during the COVID-19 pandemic using a multidimensional scale. In: Revista de psiquiatria y salud mental. Vol. 14, No. 1, pp. 16-26. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.rpsmen.2020.07.005.
BARRENECHE, S. M. (2020). Somebody to blame: on the construction of the other In the context of the covid-19 outbreak. In: Society Register. Vol. 4, No. 2, pp. 19-32. DOI: https://doi.org/10.14746/sr.2020.4.2.02.
BJORKLUND, K., and EWING, A. (2020). The Swedish COVID-19 Response Is a Disaster. It Shouldn’t Be a Model for the Rest of the World. [online]. Available at: https://time.com/5899432/sweden-coronovirus-disaster/ [Accessed 23.4.2022].
BLOCH, M. (2023). O zgodovini, spominu in lažnih novicah: izbrani spisi. Ljubljana: Studia Humanitatis.
BUZZI, C., TUCCI, M., CIPRANDI, R., BRAMBILLA, I., CAIMMI, S., CIPRANDI, G., and MARSEGLIA, G. L. (2020). The psycho-social effects of COVID-19 on Italian adolescents’ attitudes and behaviors. In: Italian Journal of Pediatrics. Vol. 46, No. 1, pp. 1-7. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1186/s13052-020-00833-4.
DESCARTES, R. (1850). Discourse on the method of rightly conducting the reason, and seeking truth in the sciences. Sutherland and Knox.
DOUGLAS, K. M., SUTTON, R. M., and CICHOCKA, A. (2017). The psychology of conspiracy theories. In: Current directions in psychological science. Vol. 26, No. 6, pp. 538-542. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0963721417718261.
FABIÁNOVÁ, K., KYNCL, J., VLCKOVA, I., JIRINCOVA, H., KOSTALOVA, J., LIPTÁKOVÁ, M., ... and MACKOVÁ, B. (2021). COVID-19 reinfections. In: Epidemiol Mikrobiol Imunol. Vol. 70, No.1. pp. 62-67.
FEMIA, J. V. (1998). The Machiavellian Legacy. London: Palgrave Macmillan, London. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/9780230379923.
FINK-HAFNER, D. (2020). The struggle over authoritarian pressures in Slovenia in the context of the COVID-19 epidemic. In: Politički život. No. 18, pp. 20-32.
GONZÁLEZ-SANGUINO, C., AUSÍN, B., CASTELLANOS, M. Á., SAIZ, J., LÓPEZ-GÓMEZ, A., UGIDOS, C., and MUÑOZ, M. (2020). Mental health consequences during the initial stage of the 2020 Coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19) in Spain. In: Brain, behavior, and immunity. No. 87, pp. 172-176. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.bbi.2020.05.040.
GRGIČ, M. (2021). Lani manj novih in več izbrisanih poslovnih subjektov. In: Delo. 21.3.2021. [online]. Available at: https://www.delo.si/gospodarstvo/novice/lani-manj-novih-in-vec-izbrisanih-poslovnih-subjektov/ [Accessed 25.3.2021].
HAFNER-FINK, M., and UHAN, S. (2021). Life and attitudes of Slovenians during the COVID-19 pandemic: The Problem of Trust. In: International Journal of Sociology. Vol. 51, No. 1, pp. 76-85. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00207659.2020.1837480.
KIM, B. (2001). Social constructivism. In: Emerging perspectives on learning, teaching, and technology. Vol. 1, No. 1, p. 16.
KLIMOVSKÝ, D., RISTESKA, S., and JÜPTNER, P. (2014). Development and current state of local government systems in the selected post-communist countries. In: Scientific papers of the University of Pardubice. Series D, Faculty of Economics and Administration. Vol. 32, No.3.
KUKLA, A. (2000). Social constructivism and the philosophy of science. London, New York: Routledge.
LUENGO, M. and GARCÍA-MARÍN, D. (2020). The performance of truth: politicians, fact-checking journalism, and the struggle to tackle COVID-19 misinformation. In: American Journal of Cultural Sociology. Vol. 8, No. 3, pp. 405-427. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1057/s41290-020-00115-w.
M.Z., G.C. (2021): Ukom prepovedal medijske nastope vladnim predstavnikom in svetovalcem, DNS opozarja na cenzuro. In: RTVSLO. [online]. Available at: https://www.rtvslo.si/slovenija/ukom-prepovedal-medijske-nastope-vladnim-predstavnikom-in-svetovalcem-dns-opozarja-na-cenzuro/551354 [Accessed 20.2.2021].
MATTHEWMAN, S., and HUPPATZ, K. (2020). A sociology of Covid-19. In: Journal of Sociology. Vol. 56, No. 4, pp. 675-683. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1440783320939416.
MERTON, R. K. (1948). The self-fulfilling prophecy. In: The antioch review. Vol. 8, No. 2, pp. 193-210. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2307/4609267.
Nacionalna raziskava o razširjenosti COVID-19. (2020). [online]. Available at: https://covid19.biolab.si/ [Accessed 20.5.2021].
NAUMANN, E., MÖHRING, K., REIFENSCHEID, M., WENZ, A., RETTIG, T., LEHRER, R., ... and BLOM, A. G. (2020). COVID‐19 policies in Germany and their social, political, and psychological consequences. In: European Policy Analysis. Vol. 6, No. 2, pp. 191-202. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/epa2.1091.
NEMEC, J. (2020). Government transition in the time of the COVID-19 crisis: Slovak case. In: International Journal of Public Leadership. Vol. 17, No. 1, pp. 7-12. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1108/IJPL-05-2020-0040.
NEMEC, J., DRECHSLER, W. and HAJNAL, G. (2020). Public policy during COVID-19: Challenges for public administration and policy research in central and eastern Europe. In: NISPAcee Journal of Public Administration and Policy. Vol. 13, No. 2, pp. 11-22. DOI: https://doi.org/10.2478/nispa-2020-0011.
NORBERG, J (2023). Sweden during the Pandemic. CATO Institute. [online]. Available at: https://www.cato.org/policy-analysis/sweden-during-pandemic# [Accessed 23.11.2023].
PINTERIČ, U. (2022). Družbena večrazsežnost COVID-19: preplet politike in znanosti v funkciji upravljanja. Novo mesto: Visoka šola za upravljanje podeželja Grm Novo mesto.
PINTERIČ, U. (2023). National authorities as perpetrators of desinformation in the case of COVID-19 in Slovenia. In: CHAŁUBIŃSKA-JENTKIEWICZ, K. and SOLER, U. (eds). Legal, sociological and political aspects of disinformation - based on the example of the coronavirus pandemic. Toruń: A. Marszałek. pp. 86-103.
VAN PROOIJEN, J. W. and JOSTMANN, N. B. (2013). Belief in conspiracy theories: The influence of uncertainty and perceived morality. In: European Journal of Social Psychology. No. 43, pp. 109–115. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1002/ejsp.1922.
TOLEIKIENĖ, R., RYBNIKOVA, I. and JUKNEVIČIENĖ, V. (2020). Whether and how does the Crisis-Induced Situation Change e-Leadership in the Public Sector? Evidence from Lithuanian Public Administration. In: Transylvanian Review of Administrative Sciences. Special Issue 2020. pp. 149–166. DOI: https://doi.org/10.24193/tras.SI2020.9.
TRADINGECONOMICS. (2021). Individual country data. [online]. Available at: https://tradingeconomics.com/ [Accessed 25.3.2021].
VASLAVSKAYA, I. Y. and VASLAVSKIY, Y. I. (2021). Public-Private Partnership and Resolving the Societal Crisis Caused by the COVID-19 Pandemic. In: IOP Conference Series: Earth and Environmental Science. Vol. 666. No. 6, pp. 1-10. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1088/1755-1315/666/6/062108.
VENULEO, C., GELO, C. G. O. and SALVATORE, S. (2020). Fear, affective semiosis, and management of the pandemic crisis: COVID-19 as semiotic vaccine. In: Clinical Neuropsychiatry. Vol. 17, No. 2, pp. 117-130.
WFP. (2021). In world of wealth, 9 million people die every year from hunger, WFP Chief tells Food System Summit. [online]. Available at: https://www.wfp.org/news/world-wealth-9-million-people-die-every-year-hunger-wfp-chief-tells-food-system-summit [Accessed 23.6.2023].
WILEY, N. (2003). The self as self‐fulfilling prophecy. In: Symbolic Interaction. Vol. 26, No. 4, pp. 501-513. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1525/si.2003.26.4.501.
WORLDOMETERS (2021). Coronavirus. [online]. Available at: https://www.worldometers.info/coronavirus/ [Accessed 25.3.2021].
Published
2023-12-31
How to Cite
Pinterič, U. and Clarič-Jakše, L.-M. (2023) “COVID-19 Pandemic – Battle of Narratives: Social Constructivism as a Defence Mechanism”, Slovak Journal of Political Sciences, 23(2), pp. 151-171. doi: https://doi.org/10.34135/sjps.230203.
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Academic Essays & Discussions
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