One of the felt effects of the coronavirus is the change in social movements across the globe. The world has now changed with the social distancing and consequences of banning public gatherings altering everything. Life is no longer the same again; what seemed normal is no longer normal. Social movements could be a way of containing the pandemic through creating awareness on ways to keep safe, but unfortunately, the pandemic has led to constraints such as social distancing, curfews, and lockdowns, making it impossible to use social movements to fight it.
The Corona Virus has altered protests. Before the ban on social gatherings, people went to the streets to fight for marginalized groups, pushing the governments to take action against racism and violations of human rights. The quest to make a world a better place to live has been affected by the ban on social movements. The public protests are a central medium for influence. Although there has been activism in the online platforms, its influence is not as strong as that of public protests through going to the streets and organizing streets. The digital activities are now on the rise because online platforms have replaced the social movements. Protests are of great significance in nation-building because they allow for public discussion of concerns that affect citizens (Zajak, 2020). The ban on social gatherings has altered this due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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Coronavirus has affected international protest due to the ban of social movements and a decrease in resources. The protests done internationally are of great importance because they foster solidarity among countries and involve them in fighting similar problems. The world nations have similar problems, whether developed or developing. For example, the coronavirus has affected the whole world. Social movements fight for equality, transparency, and advocate for collective actions to fight global issues while paying attention to differences among countries and communities. The world needs to beware of racism, inequalities, and re-nationalization through international social movements. Activists are now not united globally in fighting for human rights. With the ban on international flights and meetings, each country has to deal with their issues. The activists' power has declined due to lack of solidarity; evils such as racism are on the rise due to coronavirus effects.
The protest outcomes are less-felt due to lack of street protests. With the ban of social gatherings, the activists turned to online protests. Before the Covid-19 pandemic, activists used online and offline activities to address the public on the issues of concern. Online protests can bear fruits but cannot have as great influence as that of people going to the streets to fight for their rights. Online platforms can effectively organize strikes and protests, but they may not affect if those involved do not take offline action. Protests during the Covid-19 pandemic are not receiving much attention compared to strikes and street protests before the pandemic.
Social movements are not receiving attention during the Covid-19 pandemic. Media is a powerful tool in reporting issues of concern. Coronavirus pandemic has received media attention, ignoring issues such as violations of human rights. Being a global pandemic, the media cannot let an eye off the pandemic. The news is so much into the number of cases, the number of deaths, and recoveries such that there is no time to discuss cases of human rights violations and strikes (Chenoweth, Smith, & Shetty, 2020). People have shifted focus from fighting for human rights to fighting the coronavirus.
The power of people felt due to protests, demonstrations, and rallies have not died. The pandemic has served as a picture of how messy it could be if workers went on strikes and stayed home. At the end of the coronavirus pandemic, social movements will be more powerful, and their message will be paid close attention to. With the online rallies and increased information on human rights and the need to fight for equality, the social movements will regroup themselves and come out of the pandemic stronger than before, as Erica Chenoweth observes.
Violation of human rights has increased during the COVID-19 pandemic due to inadequate social movement activities. Matthew Smith says that the pandemic has led to violations of human rights, especially in Myanmar, Thailand, and Bangladesh. The Rohingya camp refugees no longer have access to the internet, and the mobile network has been cut intentionally by the government. This has, in turn, hindered them from accessing information during the pandemic, putting the refugees at risk of contracting the coronavirus. The Myanmar government closed over a hundred websites, making it hard to report cases of violation of human rights. The shutdown was not in favor of those affected and was unlawful. This is an effect of the silencing of the social movements and diversion of the world's attention. The social movements after the restrictions of movement and social gatherings will have a lot to do to put things in order. Chenoweth, Smith, & Shetty (2020), reports that many countries have experienced a violation of human rights with no one to defend them. India lost more citizens to starvation due to the lockdown than those who have died due to the Corona Virus. Those that defend human rights are facing challenges during the pandemic.
In retrospect, COVID-19 has affected social movements due to social distancing, limited resources, and media attention away from human rights. The pandemic struck at a time when there was increased awareness and fight for human rights. The rallies, demonstrations among other offline methods used to fight for human rights are no longer possible with the current crisis. However, the current effects of staying at home on the economy can be used to mirror how the world could be if workers decided to strike globally due to abuse of their rights. The silencing of social movements has led to massive abuse of human rights. After the pandemic, the social movements will have much to do to go back to the state the globe was before the pandemic.
References
Chenoweth, E., Smith, M., & Shetty, S. (2020, April 17). Reimagining Social Movements and Civil Resistance during the Global Pandemic. Retrieved from Harvard Kennedy School: https://carrcenter.hks.harvard.edu/files/cchr/files/200416_covid_discussion_paper.pdf
Zajak, S. (2020, April 7). Social movements in Corona times: new constraints, new practices . Retrieved from Open Democracy: https://www.opendemocracy.net/en/openmovements/social-movements-corona-times-new-constraints-new-practices/
