TO DISTINGUISH BETWEEN FRIENDS AND ENEMIES OF COVID-19

the alliance between the coronavirus and the brazilian government

Abstract

Mathematical models and projections about the COVID-19 pandemic are shaping policies and public concerns in several countries. However, the case of the Brazilian government challenges these results, as it resists the influence of the warnings. In this context, the aim of this paper is to describe the links that have formed the alliance between the novel coronavirus and the Brazilian government, as well as to see if it is a necropolitical strategy. Methodologically, the article is based on Actor-Network Theory as a method of tracing controversies and links in a heterogeneous network. In the article, we describe the virus of nature (based on data, graphs, rates, numbers, projections, etc.), the virus of politics (focusing on the acts and speeches of the President and his interactions) and the bonds of the alliance, from the perspective of necropolitics. As a contribution, we present elements of an alliance between the Brazilian government and the new coronavirus that can be seen as a necropolitical strategy. Regarding the alliance described, its durability will depend on the relationships that are established between different entities. The notion of alliance follows the perspective of agency, and therefore does not attribute intentionality to the human part in the classic sense of interpreting the social. It is likely that sooner or later the alliance will be broken. Therefore, it needs to be described and recorded at this point in order to be remembered for what it was: an alliance.