Fear and the COVID-19 Pandemic: A Liberticidal Virus

By: Jean-François Caron

Sign Up Now! Already a Member? Log In
You must be logged into Bookshare to access this title. Learn about membership options, or view our freely available titles.

Synopsis: This book explores the forms of fear that are becoming more visible in liberal democracies and how they now tend to condition our existences in a way that is detrimental to our personal freedom. The author explores how the conception of human existence that now dominates in liberal societies and that places the highest value on the preservation of life at all cost plays a significant role in this regard. He explores the origins of this form of biopolitics that has emerged after the end of the Cold War and shows how it has dramatically changed our relationship with the state and also explains how this new dynamic has been favorable to the imposition of disproportional restrictions on our individual freedom. The Covid-19 pandemic has indeed shown that when the fear of dying ends up taking precedence over any other considerations, individuals and societies are led on an illiberal path that can only contribute to the gradual erosion of their liberties and on the development and acceptance of a new type of governance that justifies the imposition of liberticidal measures. This book will appeal to scholars and students of political theory and comparative democracy, civil rights advocates and media professionals interested in questions related to liberalism and its post-Cold War evolution.