Overview

In her short research note, rare in the context of this publication, Catherine Will calls for the right of researchers and scientists in the social sciences and sociology to breathe and literally let matters take their course. She calls for the right not to rush and to draw conclusions too quickly. In fact, we are witnessing, in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic, a race for better analysis, for rapid and accurate diagnosis, discovering the emergence of a new paradigm, with the encouragement of scientific funding institutions that require the supported projects to present results in 3 or 6 months, a true fast science scenario or take-away version.

Catherine Will also emphasizes the importance of attending to the materialities and practices of infection prevention, beyond the mere discursive analysis. What also becomes clear is the sparsely analysed role of virologies and lay epidemiologies. Will ends her text by alerting to the importance of studying the processes of marginalization in understanding the impact of COVID-19 and the close connection between practices and governmental actions and the lived experience of the pandemic.