COVID-19 and U.S. Disputes Over Authority, 2020–2021: Implications for the Constructionist Analysis of Social Problems
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Sociological Forum
Abstract
COVID-19 is very different from the cases typically studied by constructionist analysts of social problems: it emerged quickly, spread widely, and affected many aspects of social life. As such, it offers important opportunities to reconsider the constructionist model. We focus on three issues—metrics, masks, and vaccines—where COVID-19 disputes about authority led to different alliances among several categories of claimsmakers. Our point is that COVID-19 discourse seems far messier than most of the narratives presented by constructionist analysts, and we identify several lessons from this unusual contemporary case that might help us strengthen existing social problems theory.
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This is the peer reviewed version of the following article: Best, J. and Monahan, B. (2022), COVID-19 and U.S. Disputes Over Authority, 2020–2021: Implications for the Constructionist Analysis of Social Problems. Sociol Forum. https://doi.org/10.1111/socf.12852, which has been published in final form at https://doi.org/10.1111/socf.12852. This article may be used for non-commercial purposes in accordance with Wiley Terms and Conditions for Use of Self-Archived Versions. This article may not be enhanced, enriched or otherwise transformed into a derivative work, without express permission from Wiley or by statutory rights under applicable legislation. Copyright notices must not be removed, obscured or modified. The article must be linked to Wiley’s version of record on Wiley Online Library and any embedding, framing or otherwise making available the article or pages thereof by third parties from platforms, services and websites other than Wiley Online Library must be prohibited. This article will be embargoed until 09/25/2024.
Citation
Best, J. and Monahan, B. (2022), COVID-19 and U.S. Disputes Over Authority, 2020–2021: Implications for the Constructionist Analysis of Social Problems. Sociol Forum. https://doi.org/10.1111/socf.12852