New books on sectoral response to the Covid-19 pandemic published
Director of Culture Commons, Trevor MacFarlane has contributed to a new book series exploring how the creative, cultural and heritage ecosystem responded to the Covid-19 pandemic between 2020 and 2022.
The books have emerged from a major research programme funded by the Arts and Humanities Research Council that brought experts from across the UK together to propose solutions to some of the urgent problems that arose - or were exacerbated by - the Covid-19 pandemic.
‘The Pandemic and Beyond’ brought 77 research teams from across the country together with user groups, journalists and policymakers to meet and find out about research of relevance to them, working collaboratively to share expertise and resources at a particularly uncertain time.
Director of Culture Commons, Trevor MacFarlane led on policy engagement throughout the programme lifecycle, convening local, regional and national stakeholders to communicate the most pertinent research findings for immediate consideration in a fast-moving decision making landscape. This work influenced a major response to the Draft Terms of Reference for the subsequent Independent Public Inquiry on Coronavirus.
Find out more about the books below, and about out involvement in the original research and policy engagement work here.
Book 1: Adaptation and Resilience in the Performing Arts
Editors: Pascale Aebischer and Rachael Nicholas
Shares important insights into the effects of the pandemic on live performance across the UK. It features eight research projects that worked with practitioners and companies in the live performing arts (especially theatre and dance) who rapidly adapted their working practices and the spaces in which they were able to connect safely with audiences, whether digital or outdoors. Throughout, the essays are infused with practical energy, inspired by the creativity and dedication of the practitioners, and mindful of how the pandemic exacerbated the structural and financial precariousness of the workforce in live performing arts. This book contributes to shaping our understanding of the challenges faced by live performing arts at a time of crisis – and how these may be overcome.
Book 2: Knowing Covid-19
Editors: Fred Cooper and Des Fitzgerald
Demonstrates how researchers in the humanities shone a light on some of the many hidden problems of COVID-19, in the very depths of the pandemic crisis. Drawing on eight COVID-19 research projects, the volume shows how humanities researchers, alongside colleagues in the clinical and life sciences, addressed some of the major critical unknowns about this new infectious disease - from the effects of racism to the risks of deploying shame; from how to design an effective instructional leaflet to how to communicate effectively to bus passengers. Across eight novel case studies, the book showcases how humanities research during a pandemic is not only about interpreting the crisis when it has safely passed, but how it can play a vital, collaborative and instrumental role as events are still unfolding.
Book 3: Governance, democracy and ethics in crisis-decision-making
Editors: Caroline Redhead and Melanie Smallman
Investigates the impacts of crisis governance and decision-making on people and populations, the book brings together microbial organisms and humans, children and data, decision-making and infection prevention, publics and process, global vaccine distribution and citizens' juries. Through its eight chapters, the book stimulates broadly-drawn discussions about exceptional executive powers in an emergency, the role of trust, and the importance of the principles of good governance - such as selflessness, ethics, integrity, accountability and honesty in leadership. The lessons drawn out in this book will support future decision-makers in both ordinary times and extra-ordinary emergencies.
Book 4: Creative Approaches to Wellbeing
Editors: Victoria Tischler and Karen Gray
A compilation of case studies illustrating how arts, culture and other community assets were used by individuals and communities to cope and develop resilience during the Covid-19 pandemic, demonstrating valuable lessons that might help us develop resilience in similar future crises. Threaded through all the contributions, readers will discover a focus on the experiences and voices of those marginalised during the pandemic, because of their lived experiences of structural inequalities, or due to mental or physical ill-health or age. These are difficult and complex topics, and there are vital lessons here for policy and for practice in the arts and for provision of health and care.
Professor Pascale Aebisher MBE, Lead Researcher on ‘Pandemic & Beyond’:
