Open AccessStaying away, staying alive: Exploring risk and stigma of COVID-19 in the context of beliefs, actors and hierarchies in India
Author(s) -
Bhavana Joshi,
Pradip Swarnakar
Publication year - 2021
Publication title -
current sociology
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.765
H-Index - 64
eISSN - 1461-7064
pISSN - 0011-3921
DOI - 10.1177/0011392121990023
Subject(s) - stigma (botany) , thematic analysis , sociology , mythology , context (archaeology) , pandemic , government (linguistics) , discourse analysis , covid-19 , public relations , gender studies , criminology , social psychology , media studies , political science , social science , disease , psychology , qualitative research , infectious disease (medical specialty) , history , medicine , linguistics , psychiatry , philosophy , archaeology , pathology , classics
The article examines the media discourse of risk and stigma which developed in response to the COVID-19 pandemic in India, employing the theoretical frameworks of Mary Douglas and Erving Goffman. Accessing the Factiva database archive, the authors analysed a total of 139 stigma-linked media reports, using the Discourse Network Analyzer (DNA) to identify thematic groups of beliefs and related actors contributing to the risk discourse on the contagion. The results exhibit a clear difference in opinion on various stigma-related beliefs among the individuals diagnosed or assumed susceptible to COVID-19, including the issue of disclosing identities. In India, domestic actors have dominated the media discourse, particularly national government agencies, rather than intergovernmental organisations or foreign governments. The media content analysis in this article shows that new hierarchies have emerged based on confirmed or suspected contact with the disease along with reinforcement of traditional myths and superstitions, leading to discrimination against the quarantined individuals, their families, healthcare staff and socially marginalised communities.