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The co-op bookstore for avid readers
The Covid Consensus: The New Politics of Global Inequality
Since the onset of the pandemic, progressive opinion has been clear that hard lockdowns are the best way to preserve life, while only irresponsible and destructive conservatives like Trump and Bolsonaro oppose them. But why should liberals favor lockdowns, when all the social science research shows that those who suffer most are the economically disadvantaged, without access to good internet or jobs that can be done remotely; that the young will pay the price of the pandemic in future taxes, job prospects, and erosion of public services, when they are already disadvantaged in comparison in terms of pension prospects, paying university fees, and state benefits; and that Covid's impact on the Global South is catastrophic, with the UN predicting potentially tens of millions of deaths from hunger and declaring that decades of work in health and education is being reversed. Toby Green analyses the contradictions emerging through this response as part of a broader crisis in Western thought, where conservative thought is also riven by contradictions, with lockdown policies creating just the sort of big state that it abhors. These contradictions mirror underlying irreconcilable beliefs in society that are now bursting into the open, with devastating consequences for the global poor.
Book Details
- Publisher: Hurst & Co.
- Publish Date: Jul 1st, 2021
- Pages: 288
- Language: English
- Edition: undefined - undefined
- Dimensions: 7.77in - 5.32in - 1.19in - 0.93lb
- EAN: 9781787385221
- Categories: • International Relations - General• Public Policy - Social Policy• Public Health
About the Author
Toby Green, formerly a journalist and travel writer, is Professor of Precolonial and Lusophone African History and Culture at King's College, London. His 2019 book A Fistful of Shells (Allen Lane) won the British Academy's Nayef Al-Rohdan Prize for Global Cultural Understanding and the American Historical Association's Jerry Bentley Prize in World History.
Praise for this book
"A thoughtful analysis of the forces and attitudes that unleashed lockdowns upon the global poor, with harrowing descriptions of the consequences."-- Sunetra Gupta, Professor of Theoretical Epidemiology, University of Oxford, and co-author of the Great Barrington Declaration "In a grave pandemic, what is the acceptable level of mortality risk relative to the damage to society, economy and poor countries from lockdowns? Toby Green's searching scrutiny and anguished analysis of this dilemma is a much-needed corrective to simplistic slogans."-- Ramesh Thakur, former Assistant Secretary-General of the United Nations, and Emeritus Professor, Crawford School of Public Policy, The Australian National University"An admirably measured description of 2020's immeasurable destruction, charting the shocking fallout from governments' virus-suppression policies in the Global North and South. The Covid Consensus should be read by everyone who still believes that lockdowns save lives."-- Sinead Murphy, Lecturer in Philosophy, Newcastle University"Even in the face of viruses and death, some humans are still 'more equal' than others. This book demonstrates it abundantly while challenging conventional wisdom on the pandemic and how to confront it."-- Gilbert Achcar, SOAS University of London"An excellent book at a critical time. Pandemics breed hysteria, to which the only cure is reason. This book is a masterly dose of reason, challenging, questioning and sceptical in the best sense of the word."-- Simon Jenkins, author and columnist
"An intellectual treat for critical thinkers who are watching the sunset of reason and feel that all that is essential is invisible to the eyes of many. This book sheds light on reason and makes the invisible visible." - Yossi Nehushtan, Professor of Law and Philosophy, Keele University
"toby Green brilliantly picks apart the underlying incongruities which allowed Covid-19 to upend democratic, scientific and international norms. From the loss of thousand-year-old traditions to the effective re-colonisation of sub-Saharan Africa, these changes should concern us all."--David Bell, independent consultant, and former medical officer, World Health Organization"Whether or not the reader is persuaded by [Toby Green's] arguments against lockdown, it is undeniable that such restrictions have disproportionately affected the young and poor. Green's unique take explores how these groups, often lacking the facility for remote work and with their education severely limited, are likely to experience staggering inequalities for years to come." -- New Statesman, "The Best Books About the Covid-19 Pandemic"
"Brave, measured, essential." -- El País
"A meticulously referenced, shocking catalogue of Western hypocrisy and the destruction wrought by global lockdowns on the poorest nations...Green's book is a depressing tale of hubris, mindless groupthink and cynical power grabs by bureaucrats and governments, taking advantage of a "health crisis"" -- The Australian
"An excellent book at a critical time. Pandemics breed hysteria, to which the only cure is reason. This book is a masterly dose of reason, challenging, questioning and skeptical in the best sense of the word." -- Simon Jenkins, author and columnist
"Nuanced and rigorous. This is not a thoughtless polemic, but a reasoned plea for progressives to put social inequality at the center of pandemic responses." -- Labour Hub "This rigorously researched book lifts the veil on the disastrous effects of lockdowns worldwide and raises more questions than it can answer given the continuing global crisis. It is a much-needed left-leaning critical intervention in the prevailing political consensus characterized by a totalitarian merging of Big Tech, Big Pharma, media corporations and government. Read it, weep (it is harrowing in parts), then read it again." -- Left Lockdown Sceptics
"As Toby Green shows in this book, the strategy judged to be the best for dealing with Covid-19 in the rest of the world is badly adapted and in fact counter-productive on the African continent." -- Le Monde
"An intellectual treat for critical thinkers who are watching the sunset of reason and feel that all that is essential is invisible to the eyes of many. This book sheds light on reason and makes the invisible visible." - Yossi Nehushtan, Professor of Law and Philosophy, Keele University
"toby Green brilliantly picks apart the underlying incongruities which allowed Covid-19 to upend democratic, scientific and international norms. From the loss of thousand-year-old traditions to the effective re-colonisation of sub-Saharan Africa, these changes should concern us all."--David Bell, independent consultant, and former medical officer, World Health Organization"Whether or not the reader is persuaded by [Toby Green's] arguments against lockdown, it is undeniable that such restrictions have disproportionately affected the young and poor. Green's unique take explores how these groups, often lacking the facility for remote work and with their education severely limited, are likely to experience staggering inequalities for years to come." -- New Statesman, "The Best Books About the Covid-19 Pandemic"
"Brave, measured, essential." -- El País
"A meticulously referenced, shocking catalogue of Western hypocrisy and the destruction wrought by global lockdowns on the poorest nations...Green's book is a depressing tale of hubris, mindless groupthink and cynical power grabs by bureaucrats and governments, taking advantage of a "health crisis"" -- The Australian
"An excellent book at a critical time. Pandemics breed hysteria, to which the only cure is reason. This book is a masterly dose of reason, challenging, questioning and skeptical in the best sense of the word." -- Simon Jenkins, author and columnist
"Nuanced and rigorous. This is not a thoughtless polemic, but a reasoned plea for progressives to put social inequality at the center of pandemic responses." -- Labour Hub "This rigorously researched book lifts the veil on the disastrous effects of lockdowns worldwide and raises more questions than it can answer given the continuing global crisis. It is a much-needed left-leaning critical intervention in the prevailing political consensus characterized by a totalitarian merging of Big Tech, Big Pharma, media corporations and government. Read it, weep (it is harrowing in parts), then read it again." -- Left Lockdown Sceptics
"As Toby Green shows in this book, the strategy judged to be the best for dealing with Covid-19 in the rest of the world is badly adapted and in fact counter-productive on the African continent." -- Le Monde