Thread by @BueRubner

The Coronavirus is becoming pandemic, and many have pointed out how the right is already trying to leverage it for xenophobia and tighter borders.

But what is the left saying?

In this thread I'll collect left takes and proposals. Feel fee to add more

1. "Arguments will need to be made" (and few have been so far)

https://twitter.com/nikhil_palsingh/status/1231971300161343488?s=20

2. Let's start with where the left blurs into the centre.

We'll see a lot of more these kinds of arguments in the US primaries and presidential election, but they won't cut it for the left in countries that already has universal public health

https://twitter.com/mattyglesias/status/1232341625206120448?s=20

3. In fact, Jacobin has published an article with more or less that argument, plus additional attention to question of farmaceutical research and development.

jacobinmag.com/2020/02/corona…

4. @JacobinMag also has this text, which makes a the argument more concisely: only the public sector can enact the public health policies needed for swift prevention, identification, containment.

jacobinmag.com/2020/02/corona…

@jacobinmag 5. But what can the left do in relation to the corona virus, beyond the realm of electoral debates and where it doesn't have state power?

In this thread, @Prolapsarian outlines some suggestions.

https://twitter.com/Prolapsarian/status/1231977865882800130

@jacobinmag @Prolapsarian (taking a break, will be back when I come across more left wing responses to the coronavirus --- do add yours)

@jacobinmag @Prolapsarian 6. David Graeber says: chill out

https://twitter.com/davidgraeber/status/1232696064429436928?s=20

@jacobinmag @Prolapsarian 7. Against Quantine: brings up the point that punitive quarantines cause many not to seek treatment (for fear of livelihood, deportation). @Mitropoulos_A

https://twitter.com/nikhil_palsingh/status/1232474756898668544?s=20

@jacobinmag @Prolapsarian @Mitropoulos_A 8. Here's Giorgio Agamben:

positionswebsite.org/giorgio-agambe…

@jacobinmag @Prolapsarian @Mitropoulos_A 9. A long essay on the Coronavirus in relation to the Chinese state and how capitalist food production and urban geography increases risks of epidemics. Especially interesting for engaging the work of left wing evolutionary biologist Robert G.Wallace.

chuangcn.org/2020/02/social…

@jacobinmag @Prolapsarian @Mitropoulos_A 10. Here's the analysis by Rob Wallace himself for @monthly_review. Wallace is an expert in epidemic deceases, and one that unlike most other such experts draw on a critical analysis of capitalism.

mronline.org/2020/01/29/not…

@jacobinmag @Prolapsarian @Mitropoulos_A @monthly_review 10.1. On situated left programs to deal with the coronavirus.

@jacobinmag @Prolapsarian @Mitropoulos_A @monthly_review 10.2 Epidemiologist Robert Wallace on what is to be done about the Coronavirus

11. "Cheering on the coronavirus because of climate change isn’t progress, it’s eco-fascism. It’s the same logic that eugenicists use to argue for population control... in an era of climate emergency." @EricHolthaus

thecorrespondent.com/330/no-the-cor…

12. A labour perspective: don't work remotely in ways that'll encourage further casualisation

https://twitter.com/brechtfast/status/1236323780349366272?s=20

13. A broader labour perspective: "Coronavirus is putting extra burdens on workers. Yet many of these same workers don’t even have the right to sick pay — meaning they’ll feel compelled to work even if it risks spreading the virus."
@mdbergfeld
jacobinmag.com/2020/03/corona…

14. On the importance of social distancing.

Cinzia Aruzza.

15. Eight Theses on Covid-19, Daniel Tanuro.

@DanielTanuro

gaucheanticapitaliste.org/huit-theses-su…

16. Fifteen years ago, Mike Davis warned of the risk of a global pandemic following the avian flu. Here's his a analysis of socio-political dimensions of the Coronavirus epidemic

links.org.au/mike-davis-cov…

17. Abigail Neeley and Patricia Lopez with a much needed feminist perspective on care and care labour in the time of Covid-19, for @antipodeonline

antipodeonline.org/2020/03/10/car…

18. New interview with evolutionary biologist Rob Wallace, author of Big Farms Make Flu.

marx21.de/coronavirus-ag…

19. I started collecting a list of demands that respond to the public health crisis while pushing towards broader justice.

20. Some covid-19 crisis demands and proposals from Spain (@SindicatLloguer and others) and the UK (@weareplanc)

21. A very timely reassessment of the utility of Foucault's concept of biopolitics in the Coronavirus crisis. By Panagiotis Sotiris

lastingfuture.blogspot.com/2020/03/agains…

22. NEIGHBOURHOOD SOLIDARITY IN THE CORONA CRISIS
This is being circulated via social media and telegram groups in Gracia, Barcelona.

23. Solid thread of resources from @out_woods, focusing on mutual aid, solidarity and political organizing

https://twitter.com/out_woods/status/1238838727180460039?s=20