The academic left, human geography, and the rise of authoritarianism during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

In this paper, we critically analyse the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting not only the breadth of knowledge geographers have already contributed to this assessment, but also the surprisingly limited critique within geography, social sciences and the broadly defined ‘Academic Left' of the authoritarian dimension of the public health policies of 2020 onwards. We conclude with a number of research questions for the aftermath of the pandemic, with the hope that they will help spur the growth of a new wave of anti-authoritarian Leftist geographical thinking that reaffirms the centrality of human rights and civil liberties to making the world a better place.