A Time of Covidiocy: Media, Politics, and Social Upheaval

The COVID-19 pandemic interrupted a chaotic political and social landscape within the United States. Its arrival revealed cracks in longstanding neoliberal narratives. In this book, the authors utilize critical theory to analyze the collapse of these hyper-individualistic narratives within the media, in the broad areas of economics, the nuclear family, and authoritarian populism and through the topics of scapegoating China, capitalist class economic messaging, the essential worker, the family under shutdown, the spread of conspiracy theories, and the ideologies of the COVID-19 protests. The book conclude with commentary on the significance of the George Floyd protests and their connection to the pandemic.

Daniel Ian Rubin, Ph.D. (2013), New Mexico State University, is Adjunct Professor at the University of Redlands’ School of Education and a K12 English teacher. His research interests include antisemitism, English/Language Arts, and issues of social justice, multiculturalism, and diversity.

Faith Agostinone Wilson, Ed.D. (1998), Oklahoma State University, is Professor of Education at Aurora University. She has published in the areas of media and policy analysis, including Enough Already! A Socialist Feminist Response to the Re-Emergence of Right-Wing Populism and Fascism in Media (Brill, 2020).