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Current Sociology

Sociologist of the Month, May 2022

Please welcome our Sociologist of the Month for May 2022, José Maurício Domingues (Institute for Social and Political Studies, Rio de Janeiro State University, Brazil). His article for Current Sociology, From global risk to global threat: State capabilities and modernity in times of coronavirus is Free Access.

José Maurício Domingues

What prompted you to research the area of your article, “From global risk to global threat: state capabilities and modernity in times of coronavirus”?

J.M. Domingues: I was, as I guess everyone in the world, very anguished with the start of the pandemic. I soon realized also how important the state would be in that crisis situation. I have recently published a book on political modernity (Critical Theory and Political Modernity, 2019) and thought some of the concepts I had developed there perfectly fitted the state responses that were being given at that point. I was also quite aware of discussions about risk and the like, as well as of discussions about climate change, which actually share a vocabulary with global health programmes and other United Nations related issues. Finally, I had the feeling, and there was a host of evidence for that, that we were witness to a sea-change, since the pandemic was accelerating social change and showing how limited and problematic neoliberalism is. In particular, as I have been working with the idea that modernity can be periodized in three phases, it came to my mind that either a strong inflection or even the beginning of a fourth phase might come about due to the effects of the coronavirus crisis and the responses being given to face up to it.

What do you see as the key findings of your article?

J.M. Domingues: I think that my article shows how strong the state has always been, how actually it’s grown its several ‘capabilities’, while people spoke about its decreasing importance in relation to the market and corporations. It has shown also, I believe, that with some more or less deep adaptations and revisions, Beck’s concept of risk and the ensuing discussion can be very helpful in framing the crisis the world has been and will be facing. It has also made an argument about the force of globalization as well as shown the problems we face when global organizations are not strong enough to tackle these problems, prior to their transformation from a risk into a concrete threat. And, overall, I think it has shown that it is quite likely that a push for social change implies changes in how modernity overall develops, whether this will be more limited or will actually imply a piecemeal overhaul of its imaginary and institutions (which does mean a transition to a different kind of society as other people hoped). The political dynamic has certainly already changed.

What are the wider social implications of your research in the current social climate? How do you think things will change in the future?

J.M. Domingues: I would like to think that, from this tragedy, a more justice-oriented world would emerge, but this is doubtful. In particular inequalities have increased, but on the other hand, political pressure has mounted too. This is where things for the future will be decided. The state has made a comeback, explicitly, and it’s unlikely that things will get back to what exactly they were before. Also technology and science received a new push. Very clearly global problems have shown their scope and that, despite or actually because of its shortcomings during the present acute crisis, nationalism is not really a solution for the problems that beset the human species. This is obvious regarding climate change, although so far the same sort of problem has been visible, while the need for urgent change has been felt by most people across the world.

Do you have any links to images, documents or other pieces of research which build on or add to the article? Or a suggested reading list?

J.M. Domingues: Indeed, from my own writing I can suggest the following pieces, one of them dealing with the pandemic, globally as well as in Brazil, while the other tackles the 'province' of climate change, which is closely related to global risk, resilience and similar issues. They are:

People should also look for the works of Robert Boyer and Alan Green about the crisis, which are very interesting. There is as yet, however, a lot of work to be done in the next few years.