Throughout the pandemic, the general population alongside policymakers have faced extreme uncertainty. Without a full picture of the virus and how it spreads, there has been much speculation about COVID-19 transmission and how to prevent it. These new perceptions of risk can work to polarise, exclude and stigmatise certain groups or individuals, compounding existing stereotypes and forms of historical exclusion.

Drawing on ethnographic insights, Nikita Simpson explores how these new relations of stigma have emerged in the UK during the pandemic. She considers how stigma has played out in relation to people from minoritised groups, essential workers and those living in multigenerational households and its damaging effects on mental health, wellbeing and social cohesion. How can we tackle these new forms of stigma? 

Meet our speaker

Nikita Simpson (@NiksSimpson) is a PhD candidate in the Department of Anthropology at LSE, and Research Co-ordinator of the Covid and Care Research Group. 

How can I watch the film?

Visit the Festival Hub or watch via the YouTube playlist.

More about this event

This event is part of the 'Festival Shorts' series. Festival Shorts are 10-minute talks by LSE experts released during Festival week, available to watch via the LSE Festival Hub.  

The LSE Festival: Shaping the Post-COVID World is running from Monday 1 to Saturday 6 March 2021, with a series of events exploring the direction the world could and should be taking after the crisis and how social science research can shape it.

Twitter hashtags for this event: #LSEFestival #LSECOVID19