Download full text
(342.7Kb)
Citation Suggestion
Please use the following Persistent Identifier (PID) to cite this document:
https://doi.org/10.12759/hsr.suppl.33.2021.302-315
Exports for your reference manager
The COVID-19 Pandemic in Historical Perspective
Die COVID-19-Pandemie in historischer Perspektive
[journal article]
Abstract This paper seeks to better understand the pandemic by looking at the long term (longue
durée). It is first recalled that the progressive construction of a horizon of eradication of infectious diseases led the population of rich countries to consider that the great epidemics no longer represented a... view more
This paper seeks to better understand the pandemic by looking at the long term (longue
durée). It is first recalled that the progressive construction of a horizon of eradication of infectious diseases led the population of rich countries to consider that the great epidemics no longer represented a real danger. A sanitary disarmament of our societies followed. However, the scientific response, its strength and speed, which made it possible to propose a vaccine in less than a year, constituted a real breakthrough, making it possible to envisage a control of the epidemic in these northern countries within a short time. In the
face of this breakthrough, however, we can observe a strong permanence of the reactions of populations and societies (incredulity, construction of rumours, instrumentalization by all social and political actors). Finally, after about a century and a half of existence, the parenthesis of freedom of movement during epidemics has closed in the face of COVID-19. The article insists on the importance of the quality of alerts in the control of epidemics since the 14th century and questions the effectiveness of the WHO in this field if a large
country does not respect the obligation of immediate declaration. It also questions the entry of humanity in a new pandemic era as a consequence of the demographic growth and the unprecedented scale of exchanges.... view less
Keywords
epidemic; contagious disease; historical development; medicine; progress; vaccination; health policy
Classification
Health Policy
Social History, Historical Social Research
Free Keywords
COVID-19; Coronavirus; History of epidemics; epidemics social dynamics; historical horizon of eradication
Document language
English
Publication Year
2021
Page/Pages
p. 302-315
Journal
Historical Social Research, Supplement (2021) 33
Issue topic
Epidemics and Pandemics - the Historical Perspective
ISSN
0936-6784
Status
Published Version; peer reviewed