COVID-19, Hyper Vulnerabilities, Silenced Traumas, and Colonial Scars: Social Work Scholars Engaging in Critical Dialogue with Racialized Communities

The arrival of the COVID-19 pandemic has resulted not only in the closing of national borders but also in the revival of symbolic borders informed by colonial, orientalist, and white supremacist legacies that have entrenched socioeconomic and racial inequalities, resulting in devastating impacts on migrant and refugee communities in the Global South and on racialized communities in the Global North. At the same time, racialized and migrant communities, and their allies, continue to struggle and reformulate strategies of survival and resistance. As social work educators and scholars situated in Quebec, Canada, the authors of this chapter aim to engage in critical dialogue and reflection about the ways in which COVID-19 has reorganized how they engage in social work research and education alongside oppressed communities and within their university and school of social work. The authors witnessed of the impacts of COVID-19 were shaped by forms of hypervulnerability that revived feelings of belonging and rejection to dominant and oppressed communities as well as silenced and intergenerational traumas. These dynamics were informed by historical colonial heritages that are often erased but then resurfaced in the form of colonial scars. As COVID-19 broke upon these colonial scars, the authors engage in critical dialogue about the ways in which their varied social locations and experiences shaped how they navigated complex "insider/outsider” dynamics. Through deep listening and giving account to oneself, a decolonial feminist approach in responding to COVID-19 crises is proposed. © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG 2022.

Challenges, Inquiry, and Recommendations: Effective COVID-19 Vaccine Management in the Face of Public Mistrust and Concern

By examining concerns about safety, compliance, and distribution through an interdisciplinary approach of public health and history, we argue that historical and contemporary mistrust of immunizations serves to challenge the successful management of a COVID-19 vaccine program in the U.S. Unique circumstances surrounding the development of a COVID-19 vaccine, including pressure for rapid production, unclear communication from public health officials, and existing resistance to behavioral protective public health policy measures (e.g., mask-wearing) complicate widespread vaccine adoption. Currently, the demand for first and second COVID-19 vaccine doses, as well as the COVID-19 booster, continues to fluctuate in the U.S. population as COVID-19 variants continue to emerge. This hesitancy has resulted in a stalled vaccination program and the absence of herd immunity. To support the successful management of a vaccine program, we recommend public health education and communication measures that can be tailored to local community needs while preparing realistic public expectations surrounding the efficacy of a COVID-19 vaccine. A tailored approach may reduce vaccine hesitancy in American society. The perspectives offered herein present a pathway that is applicable to the current COVID-19 vaccine management program in the U.S., other global locations, and future pandemics.

Sewing Apart and Together: The Experience of a Mask-Sewing Alliance in Times of COVID-19

Sewing is an act that has been both celebrated and criticized (Katoshevski & Huss, 2020;Parker, 1984;Talwar, 2018, 2019): it has been accused of reinforcing the creation of a "domestic ghetto" (Rogers, 1980, as cited in Guerin, 2017) for "third world women" (Mohanty, 2003), yet its economic potential and cultural significance have also been acknowledged. This article aims at unpacking "epiphanies" (Ellis et al., 2011) by focusing on an experience of sewing masks during the COVID-19 pandemic through a dialogue that fostered interrelational reflexivity (Gilbert & Sliep, 2009). More specifically, the article explores Jeanne's participation in the creation of an ad hoc sewing alliance with mothers from local elementary schools (and their friends). Inspired by decolonial feminist theories (Mohanty, 2003), it explores how positionalities play out and transform, as Jeanne acts as both a seamstress (insider) and a white social work student (outsider). The article focuses on the following aspects: (a) sewing as a political space questioning the domestic-public dichotomy and (b) building a "pluralist friendship" (Lugones, 1995) in sharing the act of sewing. Through the exploration of this mask-sewing alliance during the COVID-19 pandemic-an initiative that was far from being unique (CBC News, 2020)-we hope to open up discussions in social work on the possibilities of the underestimated act of sewing while critically acknowledging its limits.