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DATA, MAPS AND COLONIALISM IN TIMES OF PANDEMIC

Genderit/In-Depth Article, 2020

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Screen-shot from thecoronamap.com

The first weeks of COVID-19 were full of uncertainties. These quickly translated into widespread chaos that served as an excuse for the implementation of state security measures. We all witnessed how, in simultaneous geographies, security measures were imposed as a way of taking care of “each other”. But not all of us witnessed how these measures, far from taking care of all of us, stated a clear positioning of the security model chosen for this pandemic. While making the social inequalities and hegemonic control structures in which we live, visible. The world’s most privileged population (translated as the white middle- and upper-class population) was presented with a scenario of insecurity for the first time. And the response to this was "stay at home", "I take care of you, you take care of me". This imperative command is especially interesting, given that these people, who today demand respect from other people(s), had until now benefited from the global system based on inequality, dis-privilege, and especially the accumulation of power. The rift was more instantaneous than the state of emergency since it does not require an exhaustive analysis to realise that in order to stay at home, I must first have one. And because our powerlessness in the face of this imperative comes out of our pores. Why should I take care of you, white man, if you have historically abused my dis-privilege? You're not taking care of me, you're taking care of you and your people.

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