The COVID-19 pandemic has profoundly affected all aspects of social, economic, cultural, and political life, including changes in social institutions, labour, and personal relationships. Debates about COVID-19, however, have been dominated by the logic of biomedical, epidemiological, and techno-scientific reasoning and expertise. The social and political effects of COVID-19 itself and its responses seem to occupy a second-tier position in addressing the crisis. Social scientists have been, with few exceptions, largely absent from public discussion and policymaking. We believe social scientists have a duty to explore the underlying intellectual, political, and cultural tensions that the COVID-19 crisis is revealing about social life in Canada and abroad.

This event is the first lecture of an Open Lecture Series about a social science perspective on the pandemic and its response. It is presented by the Faculty of Medecine, the Medecine and Humanities Program and the Research Centre for the Future of Cities.