Guest Editors Loic Bourdeau and Steven Wilson

The immediate response to Covid-19 brought together political actors, health professionals, educators, industry leaders, artists, and activists. Yet the pandemic more generally has thrown into sharp relief the importance of connections in making sense of, and reacting to, health crises – connections between countries and peoples; between epidemiology and the ecosystem; between public health and the economy. These points of intersection encourage us to view global health challenges through a wider lens: While PPE and masks saved lives, they also posed major environmental questions about plastic waste; while the global industrial slowdown initiated by the pandemic cost many jobs, it gave a much-needed break to various natural ecosystems; while face-to-face communication, including in classroom settings, was severely reduced as populations were urged to stay at home, fresh modes of online engagement proliferated, requiring the development of new skills. Over four years since the outbreak, Covid-19 is still impacting our societies, as reflected in the ongoing burden of care shouldered by women, the delayed response to addressing major medical conditions such as cancers, and the increase of hateful speech and violence (e.g., anti-Asian acts or homophobic discourse linking SARS-CoV-2 to HIV). “Quiet Quitting” or “WFH: Working from Home” have become common and preferred practices for many who are no longer afraid to set their boundaries; indeed, some individuals have noted how lockdown has saved them from burnout, while others had more time to care for their loved ones.

In arguing that post-pandemic futures require thoughtful transdisciplinary and intersectional consideration, this special issue will focus on the potential for post-pandemic transformations in social, political, medical and subjective experience that emerge from meeting points of time, space, cultures and disciplines. It seeks to engage with the following questions:

• In the context of the profound change human beings have experienced since late 2019, how is the ongoing impact of the pandemic prompting an exploration of future possibilities?
• In what ways, and with what success, has Covid-19 put in motion a reimagining of the world?
• In this liminal moment between transitioning from one world and constructing a “new normal” that is more resistant in the face of crisis, what lessons have we learned from Covid-19?
• Crucially, how do cultural meeting points – between disciplines, societies, cultures, temporalities, humans and non-human subjectivities, technology and the arts – provide a radical space for the creation of new perspectives and possibilities post-pandemic?

Please send paper proposals (c. 300 words) that address any aspect of these questions to Loic Bourdeau (Loic.Bourdeau@mu.ie) and Steven Wilson (steven.wilson@qub.ac.uk) by 28 June 2024.

Indicative Timeframe: All papers (5000-9000 words) should be submitted by the end of January 2025. Following the review process, final versions must be accepted by end of September 2025.