Tag Archives: pandemic

Socially Distant: Writing History in “Unprecedented Times”

This is the sixth post in the Pandemic Methodologies series. See the introductory post for more information. By Johanna Lewis and Daniel Murchison  Introductions We are part of academia’s COVID generation – ours is a cohort of scholars whose graduate studies coincided with the global pandemic. COVID has produced many challenges, at micro and macro levels, and textured how we practice… Read more »

COVID-19 and Warehouse Work: The Making of a Health Crisis in Peel Region

Catherine Carstairs and Ravnit Dhinsa During COVID-19, thanks to e-commerce and video chats, it was possible for many workers to pick up their laptops and set up their office on the kitchen table. This could be stressful, especially for parents who had children at home, but at least these workers were safe from exposure to COVID-19. The essential workers powering… Read more »

Lessons From a Not-so Distant Pandemic: The H1N1 Pandemic and Indigenous Disparities

Curtis Fraser Over 80% of Indigenous adults have now received their first vaccination against COVID-19, compared to 57% of the Canadian population as a whole. Active COVID-19 cases among Indigenous peoples peaked in January of 2021, but have since dropped by 85%, thanks to the successes of the vaccination campaign. While the number of cases among Indigenous people is likely… Read more »

Remember/Resist/Redraw #27: The 1918-1919 Flu Pandemic in Western Canada

Earlier this month, as COVID-19 infections spiked across Western Canada during the second wave of a global pandemic, the Graphic History Collective released RRR #27 by Karen Mills and Esyllt Jones. The poster looks at the 1918-1919 flu pandemic as it was experienced in Western Canada. The poster’s design is based on a public health poster from 1918 and includes… Read more »

Remembering Emma Goldman: Pandemics, Prisons, and Mutual Aid

Franca Iacovetta & Cynthia Wright When the pandemic came, Emma Goldman was in a state penitentiary in Jefferson City, Missouri. Goldman and her life-long comrade and fellow revolutionary anarchist, Alexander Berkman, had been arrested under the Selective Service Act of 1917 for conspiring to oppose the draft. Goldman had been reaching audiences of thousands all over the US with her… Read more »

Plagues and Social Change: Putting Covid-19 in Historical Context

Alvin Finkel After the Black Death of 1347-52, which cut the population of Europe in half and accounted for some 75 million deaths globally, the feudal system faced challenges from peasant uprisings while labour shortages resulted in large wage increases for day workers. Orphanages and hospitals, run by churches and wealthy lay people, sprang up in towns across the continent…. Read more »