Humanitarian Objects for COVID-19: Face Masks and Shields in the Philippines

Abstract

Focusing on the Philippines’ response to the COVID-19 pandemic, this article examines two key objects used to mitigate the widespread transmission of the virus. To answer the research question, “What is the meaning of face masks and shields in the Philippines during the COVID-19 pandemic?” a patchwork ethnography research method was used to triangulate data from a variety of sources, including academic scholarship, mass media, grey literature, and personal experience. Using Tom Scott-Smith’s theoretical interpretation of Karl Marx’s “commodity fetishism” as a framework, the article traces the concealment, transformation, and mystification of face masks and face shields as humanitarian objects, and explores the social, political, and cultural role they play in the lives of Filipinos during the COVID-19 era.