Beyond compliance: Good citizenship during the COVID-19 pandemic

Clarke, Nicholas and Barnett, Clive (2022) Beyond compliance: Good citizenship during the COVID-19 pandemic. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers. (doi:10.1111/tran.12587).

Record type: Article

Abstract

In the UK, discussion of good citizenship during the COVID-19 pandemic largely focused on compliance and non-compliance with government rules. In this paper, we offer an alternative point of focus. Pandemic governance proceeded not only through rules/morality, but also through freedom/ethics. Good citizenship, therefore, involved practical reasoning in response to situations. We demonstrate this using diaries and other forms of writing collected by Mass Observation during the first six months of the pandemic. Responses to government rules and guidance varied by situation. Many people found governance through freedom/ethics confusing and burdensome. Faced with ethical dilemmas, they managed risks and responsibilities by deliberating, weighing justifications, and sometimes falling back on rules of thumb or heuristics. Discussion of good citizenship during future emergencies would benefit from a greater focus on situations, dilemmas, and justifications.

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Accepted/In Press date: 15 October 2022

e-pub ahead of print date: 22 October 2022

Published date: 11 November 2022

Additional Information: Funding Information: We thank the British Academy for funding the research (Special Research Awards: COVID‐19, project COV19\200422, ‘Learning to Live with Risk and Responsibility: Understanding Popular Responses to COVID‐19’). We thank the Mass Observation Archive for providing access and permissions, and especially Jessica Scantlebury and Kirsty Pattrick for their assistance and expertise. We also thank the editor, Matt Sparke, and three anonymous reviewers for suggesting revisions to an earlier version of the paper. Publisher Copyright: The information, practices and views in this article are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the opinion of the Royal Geographical Society (with IBG). © 2022 The Authors. Transactions of the Institute of British Geographers published by John Wiley & Sons Ltd on behalf of Royal Geographical Society (with The Institute of British Geographers).

Keywords: COVID-19 pandemic, Mass Observation, United Kingdom, citizenship, responsibility, risk