Abstract

Social distancing (also called physical distancing) is a highly recommended intervention against the community spreading of the new coronavirus. Although social distancing is a prudent intervention, its implications and impacts are not. The new distancing rules affect personal space and create a new sense of what is considered clean or dirty. Mary Douglas, founder of Cultural Theory, has asserted that “dirt” is a social construction that combines a social order with the contravention to this order (“Dirt is matter out of place”). As a social construction, however, “dirt” is subject to cultural bias. To some, disobedience to distancing rules is “dirty” (hierarchist bias); to others, the proximity of strangers or outsiders (egalitarian bias); to a third group, the duty to wear masks and other restrictions to personal liberty (individualist bias). Social biases shape the spatial consequences of COVID-19 and social distancing. Using cultural bias to examine reactions to social distancing allows identifying possible components of a clumsy, yet viable response to the COVID-19 crisis.

摘要

强烈建议进行社交疏远（也称为物理疏散），以防止新的冠状病毒在社区传播。尽管社会疏远是一种审慎的干预措施，但其影响和影响却并非如此。新的间隔规则会影响个人空间，并使人们对干净或肮脏的事物产生新的认识。文化理论的创始人玛丽·道格拉斯（Mary Douglas）断言，“污垢”是一种将社会秩序与违背秩序相结合的社会建构（“污垢是不合时宜的事情”）。但是，作为一种社会建构，“污垢”易受文化偏见的影响。在某些情况下，不遵守疏远规则是“肮脏的”（等级主义偏见）。对其他人而言，陌生人或局外人的接近度（平等偏见）；第三类，戴口罩的责任和其他限制人身自由的责任（个人偏见）。社会偏见塑造了COVID-19和社会疏离的空间后果。使用文化偏见来检查对社会疏远的反应，可以识别笨拙但可行的对COVID-19危机的应对措施。