On the face of it, the COVID-19 pandemic seems to fit into the risk society framework as a danger that is produced by the modernization process in its global stage. However, coronaviruses are a very particular kind of risk which risk theory does not properly explain. In fact, there is no single perspective on risk that offers a fully satisfactory account of the SARS-CoV-2, despite all of them having something valuable to contribute to the task. This paper attempts to categorize the COVID-19 pandemic as a particular kind of risk that is not adequately explained with reference to the risk society or the new epoch of the Anthropocene. On the contrary, it combines premodern and modern features: it takes place in the Anthropocene but is not of the Anthropocene, while its effects are a manifestation of the long globalization process that begins in antiquity with the early representations of the planet as a sphere. If the particular identity of the disease is considered, COVID-19 emerges as the first truly global illness and thus points to a new understanding of the vulnerability of the human species qua species.

中文翻译：

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作为全球风险的COVID-19：应对社会威胁的矛盾

从表面上看，COVID-19大流行似乎已融入了风险社会框架，被认为是其全球化阶段现代化进程所产生的一种危险。然而，冠状病毒是一种非常特殊的风险，风险理论无法正确解释。实际上，尽管所有风险因素都可为该任务做出贡献，但没有一个可以完全令人满意地说明SARS-CoV-2的风险观点。本文试图将COVID-19大流行归为一种特殊的风险，而这种风险并未充分参考风险社会或人类世的新纪元而得到充分解释。相反，它结合了前现代和现代特征：它发生在人类世，而不是人类世，它的影响是长期全球化进程的体现，这个进程始于古代，最初是地球作为一个球体的代表。如果考虑到疾病的特殊性，则COVID-19会成为第一种真正的全球性疾病，因此表明人们对人类物种的脆弱性有了新的认识。