Militarization in a Time of Pandemic Crisis

Abstract

Henry A. Giroux Ourania Filippakou We live at a time when the terrors of life suggest the world has descended into darkness. The Covid-19 crisis has created a dystopian nightmare which floods our screens and media with images of fear. Bodies, doorknobs, cardboard packages, plastic bags, and the breath we exhale and anything else that offers the virus a resting place is comparable to a bomb ready to explode resulting in massive suffering and untold deaths. We can no longer shake hands, embrace our friends, use public transportation, sit in a coffee shop, or walk down the street without experiencing real anxiety and fear. We are told by politicians, media pundits, and others that everyday life has taken on the character of a war zone. The metaphor of war has a deep sense of urgency and has a long rhetorical history in times of crisis. Militarization has become a central...