I seem to have developed a bit of a side gig writing about covid. Back in April 2020, I wrote a small blog about the Great Pause. It feels funny to read it now, of course, because we now know what the ruptures to the status quo did and did not accomplish. But at the same time it’s interesting to look back at the early days of the pandemic, if for no other reason than to satisfy a sort of morbid historical curiosity.

The blog led to a more official thinking piece on covid in Switzerland, published in September 2020 in Eurasian Geography and Economics, a journal that has always been close to my heart. I thought that was the end of it, but the pandemic went on and so did the work.

In time, the EGE article led to an invitation to participate in a book called COVID-19 and a World of Ad Hoc Geographies put together by Stan Brunn and Donna Gilbreath. It’s gigantic: 146 chapters covering various aspects of the covid experience from all around the globe, and through a variety of theoretical lenses.

My chapter builds on my EGE article, which got its start on this blog. It’s called Blurry Microgeographies of the New Normal: Grappling with COVID-19 Disruptions, Disgust and Despair in Switzerland. You can tell just from the title what happened that spirit of strange optimism from the early days. The link above leads to the official book chapter, or you can access a free pre-print of the text on ResearchGate.

Thanks for reading, and here’s hoping this is the last iteration of covid-related work.