Mapping Daily Routines, Rituals, and Virtual Emotional Intimacies in Covid-19 Pakistan

While Pakistan is currently producing epidemiological research examining the number of infections, death rates, and the areas hit hardest by this pandemic, there is an absence of research examining the social and technical implications of Covid-19 in Pakistan. To address this dearth of research, through the experiences of three generations of people living through the social-distancing restrictions enforced in Pakistan, this project will examine: how people cope with social distancing measures that disrupt emotional intimacy in their everyday lives; how people use digital technologies to engage in virtual social interactions that compensate for and retain their emotionally intimate relationships; and why people embed technologically mediated social interactions in their everyday lives during this pandemic crisis. We have designed an online qualitative study that will enable us to collect rich empirical data through telecommunications platforms, whilst accounting for the social-distancing measures currently enforced in Pakistan. Through the research team's contacts, we will utilize purposive and snowball sampling techniques to collect data from at least 30 participants (10 from each generation) or until the "saturation point" is reached. This research will gain institutional ethical approval to ensure rigorous standards of health and safety, informed consent, privacy, and confidentiality. The findings will be disseminated to a wide audience of practitioners, policymakers, academics, and local and global communities through an essay for the SSRC's digital forum Items, a journal paper published in Lancet, an online news story in the Guardian South Asia, as well as through Radio Pakistan and BBC Urdu Radio Talk.