Dr Kandida Purnell, Associate Professor of International Relations at Richmond American University London, has just had an article featured by Transforming Society, which is published by Bristol University Press and Policy Press and whose mission is to ‘publish with a purpose’.
Entitled, ‘An apolitical tapestry can’t replace listening to those bereaved by COVID-19’, the piece takes its lead from an article published recently in The Guardian. In ‘Bereaved families withdraw support for UK Covid tapestry’, Robert Booth reported on the latest developments in official (UK government-led) ‘national’ COVID-19 commemorations.
Dr Purnell says the Guardian article, ‘Rightly highlighted a troubling trend in commemorative initiatives whereby artistic memorialisation efforts are presented and pitted as emotional rather than political by their government sponsors’.
It’s a topic which is close to Dr Purnell’s heart, having co-edited ‘When This Is Over: Reflections on an Unequal Pandemic’ collection with criminologist Amy Cortvriend, emergency planner/co-founder of the After Disaster Network, Lucy Easthope and political theorist Jenny Edkins.