Peripheries, politics, centralities: geographies of COVID-19. Reflections from a German perspective on and beyond Biglieri et al

Abstract

Biglieri et al. emphasize that ‘where the virus is concentrated, you find the peripheral, in the city and society.’ Keil substantiates this perspective by identifying spatial, institutional, and social peripheries as important dimensions of peripheralization. This is an important perspective, also for Germany, for understanding the deadly inequalities of COVID-19. However, focusing on peripheries for understanding the geographies of COVID-19 has its limits. Two additional aspects must be taken into account: first, that spatial distribution of the far right and COVID-19 deniers matter for the geographies of COVID-19, and, second, that the geography of COVID-19 also reflects social centrality.