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Claudia Sisk
Introduction
In the most technologically advanced and educated era of human existence, what happens when a scientific disaster is treated as political fodder at the expense of human life? In this chapter, we will dive into how America’s political sphere has politicized COVID-19, how the shortcomings in our pandemic response were exacerbated by the election cycle, and how the college experience is transformed by it. Information related to COVID-19 spread and perception has saturated the public eye and been weaponized in the form of propaganda, election campaigns, and political platforms in response to an extremely polar election year, resulting in a skewed and disunified pandemic response. It has affected every person in America to some capacity, from incorporating face masks into fashion trends to mass layoffs, rising unemployment, and the collegiate world is also facing a particular set of challenges brought on by a disunified front in the face of
the pandemic.
Connection to STS Theory
The dynamics between the pandemic and our perception of it paints a detailed picture of what the relationship between science and society looks like today. Though it may seem archaic to insist that society and science have a strained relationship, as seen with Galileo and the Catholic Church, one can see America’s resistance to unify against the spread of COVID-19 and it’s devolution into a political talking point as an indicator that the virus isn’t being treated as what it is: scientific fact. Given the modern dependency on technology, it seems obvious that nations would accept science due to its typically factual and logical nature. However, this pandemic shows everchanging relationship people have with science and displays a clear example of the Actor Network Theory. This theory states that the social and natural world exist within constantly changing relationships with each other, and nothing exists outside of these relationships. Therefore, people’s perceptions can change the very nature of science, just as science may change perceptions (Alesina, 2020). This is shown with the weaponization of information, a direct consequence of society’s attempt to control items that supposedly exist outside its influence. This chapter will dive further into how the science of COVID-19 has been influenced by a polarizing political year in America and how facts have been constructed depending on party values in our attempt to deconstruct the physical world to fit within particular world views and agendas.
What Does Political Weaponization of Information Look Like?
In the context of this public health threat, weaponization of information does not refer to the hacking of government databases or leaking of sensitive information Edward Snowden-style. Instead, it relates entirely to access information and its circulation to various populations emphasizing the persuasive spin put on by those who circulate it. The RAND corporation defines it as “the collection of t