Securitization of minorities under covid 19: Discourses, practices, and historical antecedents

Abstract

The Covid-19 pandemic has become the fifth documented one in the 100 years since the 1918 flu pandemic. Its disproportionate impact was quickly recognised, showing how it aggravated long-standing systemic health and social inequities and placed racial and ethnic minority groups at increased risk of getting sick and dying. Securitized state responses and disproportionate employment of police and army to 'combat the virus' only amplified the pandemic outcomes. This article aims to investigate these securitized responses towards citizens and, more specifically, securitization of minority communities in the name of the pandemic, as one of the most challenging aspects of the societal shifts under Covid-19. We also offer comparative historical perspective of securitization of minorities during the past pandemics, showing that discourses and practices witnessed under the present Covid-19 pandemic are not new, and neither are the actors. This article makes theoretical contributions to understanding securitization, particularly by showing that Copenhagen and Paris Schools are not methodologically incompatible, and to the field of minority studies.