The World Upside Down: The Pandemic Redefines Globalization

Abstract

This article describes the natural phenomenon of the virus labelled COVID-19 and how its spread shook up the social, cultural and business world of humans. In my analysis, I first describe the devastating effect of the sudden onslaught on human lives and the global market, after it became classified by the WHO-UN as a pandemic, and conclude with identifying some patterns commonly overlooked in existing discussions but which embody some lessons learned. Far from a romanticized view of nature, this global crisis shows how nature can become ugly and even win in a battle with humans, yet simultaneously shows how the cognitive capacity unique to humans can counter the innate transmissibility of nature by an innate flexibility of culture. An unintended consequence of the pandemic is an increased attention to science. This article attempts to shed light on what science is and is not, particularly as relevant to the pandemic. In lieu of vague, abstract notions such as human security, global governance, multilateralism and so on, this analysis approaches the pandemic as a concrete phenomenon penetrating human lives which has led to a re-aligning of parameters in a way that redefines globalization.

Keywords

• pandemic
• society
• culture
• globalization