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ОглавлениеWelcome to the second, global-focused volume of Social Problems in the Age of COVID-19, a rapid-response project in public sociology intended to provide a broad audience with rigorous scholarly insight on social problems during the COVID-19 pandemic. All involved in this project have been compelled by the objective to provide timely and high-quality scholarly insight on the effects of COVID-19 on social problems, which can be of use to scholars, students, activists, policymakers, journalists, and the interested public. The editors and authors expect these chapters will be of use to readers for making sense of the ongoing COVID-19 crisis and its after-effects, just as they will inform policy decisions and engagement in social action.
The volume fits within the scholarly rubric of public sociology, and the editors are members of the Society for the Study of Social Problems’ (SSSP)Justice 21 Committee (J-21), whose creation was inspired by the 2000 Presidential Address of Professor Robert Perrucci, 48th President of the SSSP and founding member of J-21 (Perrucci, 2001). In his address, Dr Perrucci reminded SSSP members that much scholarship in the social problems field had become esoteric and abstract, thereby diminishing its utility as a resource for mitigating or solving the very problems which are its focus of study. Dr Perrucci’s reminder was that the SSSP and the journal Social Problems were established within a model of scholarship that saw research and publication as integrated with social action to address pressing social problems. Since its establishment, the J-21 group has published a series of volumes titled Agenda for Social Justice (US-focused) and Global Agenda for Social Justice (globally focused). (Links to open-access copies of the volumes are available in the Key Resources.)
Since the rise of the COVID-19 pandemic and associated lockdowns, our editors, contributors, and publisher have not been satisfied to sit idly by watching massive social disruptions, especially as the negative effects of pandemic continue to fall upon marginalized populations. We were motivated by the sense that, especially in times of such crises, social scientists have something important to say, and that COVID-19 has complicated and accelerated existing global social problems and inequalities. This project was initially intended to produce a single volume entitled Social Problems in the Age of COVID-19, until a call for proposals returned an overwhelming 95 proposals in a one-week period. As a result, the editors and publisher agreed to expand the project to two volumes, a first on US social problems, and a second on global issues.
You now hold in your hands Social Problems in the Age of COVID-19: Volume 2: Global Perspectives, whose subtitle highlights its focus on examining the pandemic’s effect on social problems of international, regional, and global scope. This volume includes 11 topical chapters examining the pandemic’s effect on some of the world’s most pressing problems, and one think piece intended to spark reflection on more abstract aspects of social problems. As editors, it has been our pleasure to assemble a diverse group of contributors, each with experience and expertise regarding global social issues in nearly every corner of the world. Each chapter is intended to stand on its own, yet all follow a uniform three-section format including the defining of a social problem, offering evidence for the nature and extent of the problem, and providing concrete solutions to address the problem. This final section is the highpoint of each chapter, providing the reader with practicable examples of social action and social policy which have proved successful in alleviating the respective social problem. The focus on recommendation and solutions is an alternative approach to much social problems discourse, which emphasizes the conceptual definition of problems and the presentation of facts about problems. As a whole, the chapters provide a prescription for praxis in improving a broad array of global social problems including challenges associated with the transition from adolescence, disability rights, urban slum dwellers, migrants, refugees, cybercrime, human trafficking, gender inequality, access to water and sanitation, and food security. These social problems are truly of global concern, many affecting populations in the hundreds of millions worldwide. It is, however, also important to note that no collection can comprehensively cover the gamut of existent social problems worldwide. Therefore, it is important to recognize that many pressing social problems, though important in today’s world, are not covered in this volume.
It is also important to note that the pandemic days will eventually end, as humanity has lived through pandemics before. The uncertainly is that no one knows precisely when the pandemic will end, and whether it will ever be possible to return to an old sense of normal, or whether a new normal must establish itself. The volume includes a think piece concerning the COVID-19 pandemic’s effect on social norms as measured via the World Values Survey. The chapter’s author reminds us that the pandemic has affected the social and economic lives of nearly everyone on the planet. However, while it is widely claimed in public discourse that COVID-19 changes everything, nonetheless a social stability persists. Thus, while social life has been greatly disrupted via the pandemic, it seems that underlying social values governing social behaviors and beliefs are much slower to change. Indeed, humanity maintains its own stability via shared values undergirding the social system, and these fundamental social structures may even be strengthened by the pandemic crisis. Therein lies the need for fundamental sociological insight into the pandemic effects on society, which in addition to acting as an accelerant to many social problems, may similarly re-entrench existing inequalities.
In closing, it is the editors’ hope that this volume will resonate with readers seeking practical recommendations and guidance for the solution of the global social problems herein addressed. The aim is to inspire readers to reflect on the suggestions provided, and more importantly, to take action. The reader is invited to take the volume’s ideas into classrooms and spaces of public discourse, and to use them as a basis for fruitful conversations. It is the editors’ vision that readers will share the vision and application of research-informed social action and policy to create socially just solutions to global social problems during this age of COVID-19 and beyond.
Glenn W. Muschert, Khalifa University of Science and Technology
Kristen M. Budd, Miami University
David C. Lane, Illinois State University
Jason A. Smith, Kaiser Foundation Health Plan
Key Resources
Perrucci, Robert . 2001. Inventing Social Justice: SSSP and the Twenty-First Century. Social Problems, 48(2): 159–167. https://doi.org/10.1525/sp.2001.48.2.159
Electronic copies of all volumes of the Agenda for Social Justice are available for open-access download at www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/771/locationSectionId/0/Agenda_for_Social_Justice.
Electronic copies of the Global Agenda for Social Justice are available for open-access download at www.sssp1.org/index.cfm/m/323/locationSectionId/0/Global_Agenda_for_Social_Justice.
