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Emotional Community and Estrangement in the COVID-19 Pandemic : A Collaborative Autoethnographic Approach

Nordquist, Cecilia Y LU orcid ; Minissale, Alessandra and Bergman Blix, Stina LU orcid (2023)
Abstract (Swedish)
The incentive for this chapter emerged in the beginning of the pandemic when we collected data for a comparative research project in three countries whose strategies to combat the COVID-19 virus were strikingly different and often debated: Sweden, Italy, and the United States. Trying to make sense of our subjective feelings as well as the collective feelings we identified in reports and discussions in the media and personal conversations, we found that our efforts were not only therapeutic, but served as illuminating examples of authoritative and public responses that either fragmented or supported emotional communities. The three countries faced the same health hazards, but the authorities’ emotional response and the public’s collective... (More)
The incentive for this chapter emerged in the beginning of the pandemic when we collected data for a comparative research project in three countries whose strategies to combat the COVID-19 virus were strikingly different and often debated: Sweden, Italy, and the United States. Trying to make sense of our subjective feelings as well as the collective feelings we identified in reports and discussions in the media and personal conversations, we found that our efforts were not only therapeutic, but served as illuminating examples of authoritative and public responses that either fragmented or supported emotional communities. The three countries faced the same health hazards, but the authorities’ emotional response and the public’s collective feelings differed. Through individual autoethnographic diaries, observations of press conferences, and joint emotional reflections, we found that our own feelings and our respective countries’ responses were diverse. Employing collaborative autoethnography, and a three-tier analysis strategy, we discuss the observed responses in our respective national contexts during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic and reflect on how public and private experiences coalesce into experiences of both a shared sense of emotional community as well as feelings of emotional estrangement. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
; and
organization
publishing date
type
Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceeding
publication status
published
subject
host publication
Transcending Crisis by Attending to Care, Emotion, and Flourishing
editor
Cottingham, Marci ; Erickson, Rebecka and Lee, Matthew
pages
25 pages
publisher
Routledge
ISBN
9781003260332
9781032466873
language
English
LU publication?
yes
id
7f090f67-db86-4007-8d16-b531b76d48fb
date added to LUP
2025-09-30 13:34:41
date last changed
2025-11-25 03:50:10
@inbook{7f090f67-db86-4007-8d16-b531b76d48fb,
  abstract     = {{The incentive for this chapter emerged in the beginning of the pandemic when we collected data for a comparative research project in three countries whose strategies to combat the COVID-19 virus were strikingly different and often debated: Sweden, Italy, and the United States. Trying to make sense of our subjective feelings as well as the collective feelings we identified in reports and discussions in the media and personal conversations, we found that our efforts were not only therapeutic, but served as illuminating examples of authoritative and public responses that either fragmented or supported emotional communities. The three countries faced the same health hazards, but the authorities’ emotional response and the public’s collective feelings differed. Through individual autoethnographic diaries, observations of press conferences, and joint emotional reflections, we found that our own feelings and our respective countries’ responses were diverse. Employing collaborative autoethnography, and a three-tier analysis strategy, we discuss the observed responses in our respective national contexts during the first months of the COVID-19 pandemic and reflect on how public and private experiences coalesce into experiences of both a shared sense of emotional community as well as feelings of emotional estrangement.}},
  author       = {{Nordquist, Cecilia Y and Minissale, Alessandra and Bergman Blix, Stina}},
  booktitle    = {{Transcending Crisis by Attending to Care, Emotion, and Flourishing}},
  editor       = {{Cottingham, Marci and Erickson, Rebecka and Lee, Matthew}},
  isbn         = {{9781003260332}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  publisher    = {{Routledge}},
  title        = {{Emotional Community and Estrangement in the COVID-19 Pandemic : A Collaborative Autoethnographic Approach}},
  year         = {{2023}},
}