The human need for solidarity is evidenced by the actions people have taken to combat the physical distancing and isolation necessary with COVID-19, two UWindsor researchers have written in Canadian Dimension, which bills itself as the longest-standing voice of the left in Canada.

“The COVID-19 virus pandemic that began in late 2019 has spurned emergency actions across the globe. The global, national, and regional responses have been varied and changing as the situation escalates in some regions and settles down in others,” write social work professor Filipe Duarte and Jane McArthur, a doctoral student in the Department of Sociology, Anthropology and Criminology.

“The message we need now and for the future is one of collective values — values that place people, their needs, and their health over the economy as disconnected from those human needs.”

They argue that health is intricately intertwined with social factors, necessitating collective action in response.

“Collective values, which see the wholeness of our relationships with one another, applied to systemic level policies, can reduce and even prevent future illness and disease, inequalities, injustices and even climate change.”

Read the entire article, “Prioritizing Collective Responsibilities in the Response to COVID-19.”