Join us next week on 27 April at 16:00 for the next event in our WIDER Webinar Series.

Full details HERE

Bruno Martorano will join the WIDER Webinar Series to present a recent study on policy responses to COVID-19, inequality and protests in US. Clionadh Raleigh will follow as discussant, sharing new findings on protests and political violence during COVID-19 in developing countries.

Do Pandemics Lead to Rebellion? Policy Responses to COVID-19 and protests in the USA

In his webinar presentation Bruno Martorano introduces the results of a recent study which analyses the role of inequality in shaping the effect of the COVID-19 pandemic on the incidence of protests across US counties in 2020.

The results of the study show that higher levels of stringent measures to contain the pandemic were instrumental in driving the incidence of protests. This was particularly the case in counties with high levels of economic inequality where grievances may have been initially stronger.

The results of the study show that higher levels of stringent measures to contain the pandemic were instrumental in driving the incidence of protests. This was particularly the case in counties with high levels of economic inequality where grievances may have been initially stronger.

Further analysis suggests that the impact of government responses to the COVID-19 pandemic is largely explained by the changes in economic conditions (rise in unemployment and changes in economic activities and spending) in counties with the highest levels of inequality. Unequal counties with lower trust in political institutions but higher social trust are also more likely to experience more protests as a response to more stringent policies.

For more details please contact toppari@wider.unu.edu