Social Autopsy of COVID-19 in Chicago

Join us for the 2022 kick-off of our recurring Civic Engagement Lunch Talk Series, presented by Claire Decoteau, professor of sociology.

This talk reports on findings from a research project that analyzed the city of Chicago’s “racial equity” approach to COVID-19. We interviewed 65 policymakers, public health experts, epidemiologists and community organizers involved in the city’s COVID-19 strategy and 100 residents of three neighborhoods deeply impacted by COVID-19. We found that pre-existing structural inequalities were not taken into account by local or federal policy and that mitigation efforts, even when they involved community organizers, employed a scarcity framework that pitted communities against one another. As a result, core vulnerabilities among Chicago’s Black and Latinx residents went unaddressed.

Registration is required.

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