Description
Political responses to Covid in many Western states have had the consequences of normalising a hitherto unprecedented level of control over peoples’ lives. It may seem counter-intuitive to argue that this also represents the state leaving us alone, however in this paper I want to make an argument that the response of the British state to Covid represents the state removing itself from a democratic relationship with citizens. In its place, the British state is establishing a mode of governance that is closer to that experienced by citizens in weaker states when faced with external powerful states. Drawing on Mark Duffield’s work on security, development and intervention, I argue that the British Government’s response suggests it sees citizens as technical problems to be managed in a way that best maintains the status quo.
