Learning to Live with Risk and Responsibility: Understanding Popular Responses to COVID-19

During the COVID-19 pandemic, British citizens have been asked to act responsibly in novel ways because of the risks their behaviour poses to others and their role in complex chains of causation. This project investigates how citizens have responded to these demands, aiming to advance conceptual and empirical understandings of popular responses to the pandemic. Making use of data collected by Mass Observation, the research will develop a better understanding of how people interpreted demands to act responsibly and translated them into practices of everyday life. Expected outputs include publications on how government public health communications and associated news coverage problematized the daily routines of citizens during the pandemic, and how citizens responded to these publicly circulated imperatives to act responsibly. A research workshop is planned in partnership with Mass Observation to explore how the Archive's collections can be most effectively used to advance understandings of popular responses to COVID-19.