Ordinary Things: A Reflection on Race and Capital in the Pandemic
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.25071/1916-4467.40684Keywords:
poetic inquiring, pandemic, capitalism, raceAbstract
In response to the race-based, capitalist logics further exposed during the pandemic, I engage in poetic inquiry by weaving the words of Arundhati Roy in a multimodal Vox Justitia. I begin with brief rationale for the inquiry, noting that the pandemic has sharpened the harms of racism and capitalism, and has exposed the fragility of contemporary democracy. I then describe why poetic inquiring in general, and a Vox Justitia in particular, engaged through the writing of Arundhati Roy, offer a useful way to grapple with this moment. Finally, I proceed through the five movements of my Vox Justitia, employing images, news headlines, and excerpts from Roy’s writing, to contextualize my poetic analysis.
References
Bastug, M. F., Douai, A., & Akca, D. (2020). Exploring the “demand side” of online radicalization: Evidence from the Canadian context. Studies in Conflict & Terrorism, 43(7), 616-637. https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2018.1494409 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/1057610X.2018.1494409
Bustamante, P., Jashnani, G., & Stoudt, B. G. (2019). Theorizing cumulative dehumanization: An embodied praxis of “becoming” and resisting state‐sanctioned violence. Social and Personality Psychology Compass, 13(1), 1-13. https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12429 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/spc3.12429
Cambridge Dictionary. (2021). Pression. In Cambridge dictionary. https://dictionary.cambridge.org/dictionary/french-english/pression
Cecco, L. (2021, April 04). Ontario hastily reverses reopening as new variants usher in a third wave of Covid cases. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/04/canada-coronavirus-third-wave-variants-ontario
City of Toronto. (2020). Toronto Public Health releases new socio-demographic COVID-19 data. https://www.toronto.ca/news/toronto-public-health-releases-new-socio-demographic-covid-19-data/
Delano, J. (1940). In the new home of a group of Florida migrants just arrived at Onley, Virginia [Photograph]. Library of Congress. https://www.loc.gov/item/2017791215/
Druckman, J. N., Klar, S., Krupnikov, Y., Levendusky, M., & Ryan, J. B. (2021). Affective polarization, local contexts and public opinion in America. Nature Human Behaviour, 5(1), 28-38. https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-01012-5 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1038/s41562-020-01012-5
Faulkner, (2018). Poetic inquiry: Poetry as/in/for social research. In P. Leavy (Ed.), Handbook of Arts-Based Research (pp. 208-232). Guilford Press.
Fuchs, C. (2020). Towards a critical theory of communication as renewal and update of Marxist humanism in the age of digital capitalism. Journal for the Theory of Social Behaviour, 50(3), 335-356. https://doi.org/10.1111/jtsb.12247 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/jtsb.12247
George, R. (2021, March 25). I’ve sailed the Suez canal on a cargo ship – it’s no wonder the Ever Given got stuck. The Guardian. https://amp.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2021/mar/25/suez-canal-cargo-ship-ever-given-stuck?__twitter_impression=true
Goodman, A. (2003, October 24). Arundhati Roy: “Instant-Mix imperial democracy, buy one get one free.” Democracy Now. https://www.democracynow.org/2003/10/24/instant_mix_imperial_democracy_buy_one
Gulla, A. N. (2018). Aesthetic inquiry: Teaching under the influence of Maxine Greene. High School Journal, 101(2), 108-115. https://www.jstor.org/stable/90024234 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1353/hsj.2018.0004
Greene, M. (1984). The art of being present: Educating for aesthetic encounters. Journal of Education, 166(2), 123-135. https://doi.org/10.1177/002205748416600203 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/002205748416600203
Greene, M. (2001). Variations on a blue guitar: The Lincoln Center Institute lectures on aesthetic education. Teachers College Press.
Hong, N., Kim, J., Watkins, A., & Southall, A. (2021, March 30). Brutal attack on Filipino woman sparks outrage: ‘Everybody is on edge.’ The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2021/03/30/nyregion/asian-attack-nyc.html
Keung, N. (2021, March 27). Nanny state? Hardly. Canada has left its foreign caregivers in a stalled system that’s derailing lives. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/news/canada/2021/03/27/nanny-state-canada-has-left-its-foreign-caregivers-in-a-stalled-system-thats-derailing-lives-critics-say.html
Kochhar, R. (2021, March 18). The pandemic stalls growth in the global middle class, pushes poverty up sharply. Pew Research Center. https://www.pewresearch.org/global/2021/03/18/the-pandemic-stalls-growth-in-the-global-middle-class-pushes-poverty-up-sharply/
Koehler, D. (2014). The radical online: Individual radicalization processes and the role of the internet. Journal for Deradicalization 1, 116-134.
Kong, S. (2021, April 5). If you’re a racialized woman, everything you’ve heard about salary negotiation is wrong. Globe and Mail. https://www.theglobeandmail.com/investing/personal-finance/household-finances/article-if-youre-a-racialized-woman-everything-youve-heard-about-salary/
Leavitt, K. (2021, March 25). Outgoing medical officer of health criticizes Ottawa for treatment of migrant workers and asks for airport vaccinations. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/politics/federal/2021/03/25/outgoing-medical-officer-of-health-criticizes-ottawa-for-treatment-of-migrant-workers-and-asks-for-airport-vaccinations.html
Levitsky, S., & Ziblatt, D. (2018). How democracies die. Penguin Random House.
Lin, K., & Shao, K. (2021, April 8). Our elders, women are being attacked and killed. To #StopAsianHate, we must work together to dismantle white supremacy. Toronto Star. https://www.thestar.com/opinion/contributors/2021/04/08/our-elders-women-are-being-attacked-and-killed-to-stopasianhate-we-must-work-together-to-dismantle-white-supremacy.html
Liu, T. (2009). No one is illegal! May day of action [Photograph]. Creative Commons. https://search.creativecommons.org/photos/d6d85a1a-784c-4c74-b907-a1f3bc4e19d5
Milman, O., & Rushe, D. (2021, March 25). The latest must-have among US billionaires? A plan to end the climate crisis. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/25/elon-musk-climate-plan-reward-jeff-bezos-gates-investments
Neate, R. (2021, April 12). Google founders Larry Page and Sergey Brin join $100bn club. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2021/apr/12/google-founders-larry-page-and-sergey-brin-join-100bn-club
Oxfam. (2019). Public good or private wealth? https://oxfamilibrary.openrepository.com/bitstream/handle/10546/620599/bp-public-good-or-private-wealth-210119-summ-en.pdf
Parker, L. (2020). Literacy in the post-truth era: The significance of affect and the ethical encounter, Educational Philosophy and Theory, 53(6), 613-623. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2020.1803834 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2020.1803834
Paul, E. (2020). Australia in the expanding global crisis. Palgrave Macmillan. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-2279-6
Peters, M. (2020) Trump’s nationalism, ‘the end of globalism’, and ‘the age of patriotism’: ‘The future does not belong to globalists. The future belongs to patriots.’ Educational Philosophy and Theory, 52(13), 1341-1346. https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2019.1678447 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1080/00131857.2019.1678447
Politi, D. (2021, April 04). Amazon admits drivers sometimes have to pee in bottles while on the job. Slate. https://slate.com/news-and-politics/2021/04/amazon-admits-drivers-pee-bottles-pocan.html
Popoviciu, A. (2021, March 26). ‘They can see us in the dark’: Migrants grapple with hi-tech fortress EU. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2021/mar/26/eu-borders-migrants-hitech-surveillance-asylum-seekers
Prendergast, M. (2009). Introduction: The phenomena of poetry in research: “Poem is what?” Poetic inquiry in qualitative social science research. In M. Prendergast, C. Leggo, & P. Sameshima (Eds.), Poetic inquiry: Vibrant voices in the social sciences (pp. xix-xlii). Sense. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1163/9789087909512
Prendergast, M. (2015). Poetic inquiry, 2007-2012: A surrender and catch found poem. Qualitative Inquiry, 21(8) 678–685. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800414563806 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800414563806
Robinson, W. I. (2020). Global capitalism post-pandemic. Race & Class, 62(2), 3-13. https://doi.org/10.1177/0306396820951999 DOI: https://doi.org/10.1177/0306396820951999
Roshanravan, S. (2014). Motivating coalition: Women of color and epistemic disobedience. Hypatia, 29(1), 41-58. DOI: https://doi.org/10.1111/hypa.12057
Roy, A. (1997). The god of small things. Vintage Canada.
Roy, A. (1999). The cost of living. https://www.cambridgetrust.org/assets/documents/Lecture_No_22.pdf
Roy, A. (2003). War talk. South End Press.
Roy, A. (2008). The shape of the beast. Viking.
Roy, A. (2014). Capitalism: A ghost story. Haymarket Books.
Roy, A. (2016). The end of imagination. Haymarket Books.
Roy, A. (2020). The pandemic is a portal. https://www.ft.com/content/10d8f5e8-74eb-11ea-95fe-fcd274e920ca
Roy, A., & Cusack, J. (2016). Things that can and cannot be said: Essays and conversations. Penguin.
Roy, S. (2020). Stranded migrant workers during fourth phase of the lockdown [Photograph]. Creative Commons. https://search.creativecommons.org/photos/a23b2f52-be67-49b5-b4cd-d3410f52a971
Wicker, J. (2021, March 27). Georgia’s governor signed a “Jim Crow” voting bill under painting of slave plantation. The Guardian. https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/mar/27/georgia-governor-painting-slave-plantation-voting-bill-signing
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2022 Lana Parker 
Copyright for work published in JCACS belongs to the authors. All work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International license.
