Perceptions of the Impact of Covid-19 in Tepoztlan, Mexico: A Focused Ethnographic Study

This article analyzes the transformation of Tepoztlan, a rural community in Mexico, as the Covid-19 pandemic changed people ' s perceptions about their lives and future prospects, and deepened their connections to global networks. A focused ethnographic study revealed how women led the movement to close the town to outside visitors and, through negotiations and community decisions, how the town eventually opened up again, highlighting the impact on employment. Data from a statistical survey undertaken during the first peak of Covid-19 infections in 2020 showed the reactions of young women and women heads of households to the impact of the pandemic that, in their own words, "takes away our freedom of action", while men of all age groups were deeply worried about economic futures. Unexpectedly, the re-opening of the town brought an influx of post-pandemic tourism that was seized by aggressive and illicit powerful groups as an opportunity to take over the town. Managing the risk of inadvertently providing information that may be used by such groups poses a dilemma for present-day anthropologists.

"The Global Sense of Disaster was Synchronized With my Own Disaster": Implications of the COVID-19 Crisis on the Wellbeing of Survivors of Sexual Violence.

The present study is designed to improve our understanding of the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic, as collective trauma, on the wellbeing of survivors of sexual violence (SV). The data are based on an online qualitative survey about the experiences of 39 survivors and a thematic analysis of ten in-depth interviews with service providers in Israel. The findings reveal that the pandemic and restrictive measures are associated with increased risk for participants' wellbeing, caused directly by pandemic characteristics, as well as indirectly through the denial of access to coping resources. Paradoxically, the pandemic also offers relief, given the widespread restrictions imposed on the entire population and the general crisis atmosphere. The service providers' perspective indicates an increased demand for services as well as for their adjustment. These findings highlight the vulnerability of individuals with a history of SV and the need for accommodation of frontline SV services for health crises.

Place-Making through Media: How Media Environments Make a Difference for Long-Term Care Residents’ Agency

This paper explores the unique relationships care home residents have with communication media. Drawing on findings from an ethnographic case study at a long-term care site in British Columbia, Canada, I describe how care home residents’ everyday media practices are intertwined with their negotiations of longstanding attachments and new living spaces. The research draws connections between the spatiotemporal contexts of media use and residents’ experiences of social agency. Long-term care residents in this research were challenged to engage with the wider community, maintain friendships, or stay current with events and politics because their preferred ways of using communication media were not possible in long-term care. The communication inequalities experienced by care home residents were not simply about their lack of access to media or content but about their inability to find continuity with their established media habits in terms of time and place. While most research about communication media in care homes has been intervention oriented, this research suggests that long-term care service and funding policies require greater attention to create flexible, diverse, and supportive media environments.