The Ebola Crisis in Sierra Leone: Mediating Containment and Engagement in Humanitarian Emergencies

This article explores how framings of the 2014�16 outbreak of Ebola as a crisis, its causes, nature and consequences gave rise to two seemingly contradictory types of interventions within affected communities in Sierra Leone: a militarized state of emergency on the one hand, and efforts to foster local engagement and ownership on the other. Teasing out explicitly the underlying logic of these two modes of response, we are able to discern the convergence between containment and engagement approaches that are at the heart of contemporary humanitarianism. Rather than being opposed or contradictory, the article shows how they were mutually constitutive, through negotiations between different ways of knowing and responding to the Ebola crisis. The resulting divisive practices, juxtaposing �Ebola heroes� and �dangerous bodies�, re-ordered the landscapes that individuals had to navigate in order to manage uncertainty. Tracing these logics through to the �subjects� of intervention, the article tells the story of one traditional healer's �epistemic navigations� in his efforts to survive both the epidemic and its response. Bringing these dynamics and their consequences to the fore in the Sierra Leonean case invites broader reflections on a humanitarian assemblage increasingly reliant on the mutual constitution of containment and engagement, security and resilience, in its approach to managing �at risk� populations

Experiences and implications of the first wave of the COVID-19 emergency in Italy: a social science perspective

Background Italy was among the first countries in the world to experience the devastating consequences of the COVID-19 emergency and suffered its consequences to a devastating scale. Understanding how the country got there in spite of a relatively well-resourced public and private health system in at least part of the country, is imperative to be able to operationalise any lessons learnt for future epidemics in Italy and beyond. Methods The paper reports the findings from a research scoping exercise conducted in Italy in 2020. We conducted extensive archival research and collected 29 testimonies either in writing or as semi-structured interviews. We sampled purposively with a stratification strategy in mind, specifically aiming to gain testimonies from different social groups, classes, ages, and nature of employment. Our sample also reflects the different experiences between the Northern and Southern regions, a divide that has long been economically and politically salient in the country. Results Evidence and considerations of epidemiological nature normally guide public health responses to crises. This study supports the idea that socio-economic, cultural and political factors also affect transmission outcomes. We highlight specifically the role that socioeconomic and health inequalities play in this respect, through factors such as overcrowded dwellings, lack of alternatives to in-person work, informal work set-ups, pervasive organised crime presence, poorly planned social support and communication strategies. Conclusions A socio-economic and political lens is needed in addition to an epidemiological one to fully understand the social experiences and implications of public health crises such as the COVID-19 pandemic and to devise effective response measures that are locally relevant and acceptable. Thus insights provided by multi-disciplinary task forces can render policymaking and social support interventions as well as communication strategies more effective

Citizens, dependents, sons of the soil

The impact of biomedicine and biomedical technologies on identity and sociality has long been the focus of medical anthropology. In this article we revisit these debates in a discussion of how unprecedented encounters with biomedicine during the West African Ebola outbreak have featured in Sierra Leoneans’ understandings of citizenship and belonging, using the case study of an Ebola vaccine trial taking place in Kambia District (EBOVAC Salone). Analysing our ethnographic material in conversation with a historical analysis of notions of belonging and citizenship, we show how participation in a vaccine trial in a moment of crisis allowed people to tell stories about themselves as political subjects and to situate themselves in a conversation about the nature of citizenship that both pre-dates and post-dates the epidemic

Recuperación del cuerpo de Mujeres Mayores a partir de la mediación de los Programas de Salud

Desde mediados del siglo XX se reconoce mundialmente el envejecimiento continuo y constante de la población. Este grupo muestra particularidades que son abordadas desde diferentes espacios sanitarios. El más reconocido de ellos, los Programas de salud tienen como una de sus principales metas 'controlar' las enfermedades; en este caso las asociadas con el proceso de envejecimiento. El trabajo aborda la emergencia del cuerpo a partir de la implementación de dichas políticas. El objetivo ha sido describir las implicancias que surgen en la recuperación del cuerpo de mujeres Mayores, cuyas prácticas culturales y roles sociales han ocultado a sus sensaciones y proyecciones cotidianas. Se implementó una metodología cualitativa a partir de relatos de experiencias de mujeres Mayores que participan de las actividades prescritas desde los Programas de Salud propuestos por el Instituto Nacional de Servicios Sociales para Jubilados y Pensionados, en los lugares donde dichas actividades se realizan. Los resultados obtenidos marcan la re-emergencia de un cuerpo que el contexto y la historia de esas mujeres se ocuparon de borrar de las prioridades cotidianas, y que las enfermedades ponen de manifiesto desde el lugar del dolor y la pérdida, habilitando a sensaciones, sentimientos, goces, que se creían perdido

Pro-cyclicality of capital regulation: is it a problem? How to fix it?

We use a macroeconomic euro area model with a bank sector to study the pro-cyclical effect of the capital regulation, focusing on the extra pro-cyclicality induced by Basel II over Basel I. Our results suggest that this incremental effect is modest. We also find that regulators could offset the extra pro-cyclicality by a countercyclical capital-requirements policy. Our results also suggest that banks may have incentives to accumulate countercyclical capital buffers, making this policy less relevant, but this finding is depends on the type of economic shock posited. We also survey different policy options for dealing with procyclicality and discuss the pros and cons of the measures available.Basel accord, pro-cyclicality

Surveillance on the frontline of the COVID-19 response in Sierra Leone

As a surveillance officer in Northern Sierra Leone, Abass Kamara reflects on the experience of mounting a rapid response to the COVID-19 pandemic from the frontline. In his conversation with Luisa Enria, he emphasises personal apprehensions, the social and political implications of the pandemic on his border District and the deep-rooted challenge of gaining citizens’ trust

From Peace-building towards Development: Opportunities and challenges for Sierra Leone’s future

Simone Datzberger (LSE), Viviane Dittrich (LSE) and Luisa Enria (Oxford) review the recent Sierra Leone research workshop that took place at LSE

Programas de Salud y Género. Mujeres con VIH/SIDA

La proliferación de trabajos biológicos sobre el proceso del VIH/Sida contrasta con el abordaje de la problemática desde la experiencia de los que lo viven. De entre los involucrados, la mujer se vio implicada desde el comienzo como una de las poblaciones de riesgo de contagiar y de enfermarse. La embarazada, objeto privilegiado de la salud pública, contó con programas especiales y normativas estrictas a través de los programas de salud, que dejaron fuera lo que pasaba con ellas en las relaciones con los compañeros y con ellas mismas; sus experiencias, sus perspectivas, sus nociones de futuro; así como su relación con el sistema de salud y con los médicos. En este trabajo se aplicó una metodología cualitativa basada en entrevistas abiertas a mujeres con VIH de la ciudad de Rosario, Argentina. Los hallazgos remiten a una serie de experiencias que relatan sus estrategias y contradicciones, abriendo puentes hacia la comprensión