Document Type
Article
Publication Date
1-29-2021
Abstract
As much as the event following 9/11 triggered massive changes in our understanding of privacy rights and increased our level of acceptance of government infringement on individuals’ freedom, the pandemic of the SARS-COV-2 is threatening to change our understanding of societal hierarchy and democratic process. In this essay, we imagine a society where two classes, defined by their susceptibility to infection, emerge, and a neo-feudal system is established. We suggest that it is possible to evaluate how likely a dystopian outcome is by using Machiavelli’s understanding of the impact of the Plague on medieval Florence. We also recommend following his advice to avoid such a drift by reaffirming the primacy of politics over scientism.
Recommended Citation
Molle, A. (2021). SARS-COV-2 and the (dark) future of society: A Machiavellian approach to the end of body sovereignty and the beginning of bio-feudalism. Sociologica, 14(3), 25-42. https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1971-8853/11420
Peer Reviewed
1
Copyright
The author
Creative Commons License
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 License.
Included in
American Politics Commons, Medicine and Health Commons, Politics and Social Change Commons, Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance Commons, Social Psychology and Interaction Commons, Sociology of Culture Commons
Comments
This article was originally published in Sociologica, volume 14, issue 3, in 2021. https://doi.org/10.6092/issn.1971-8853/11420
This scholarship is part of the Chapman University COVID-19 Archives.