| Abstract |
"I started working on this book in spring 2019 while recovering from minor surgery that at the time felt like the biggest health scare to me. The writing of the first few theoretical chapters helped to distract me from my health issue. I planned to continue my work on the book in the summer of 2020, which at that time I anticipated would be another quiet summer at home after my return from a planned trip to Europe. I did not know yet about the biggest world health scare that would coincide with the continuation of my work on the book: the COVID-19 pandemic. It slowly entered every corner of the world, made people socially distance from one another per national and state orders, forced us to stay home, cancel all travel plans, wear masks, and get used to what "the new normal" might be while hoping for the miraculous return of the "old normal." For the second time in two years I turned to the writing of my book as an escape: this time - for a much-needed respite from the global madness and a rising death toll. It also made me think about all those petty ideological and political differences that separated countries in pre-pandemic times, like Russia and the U.S. having grown so far apart in the last few years that they almost have reached the point of no return. I started wondering if a global health scare, such as the ongoing pandemic, could bring states and nations together in tackling the disease. I also wondered if the overused and therefore clichéd phrase "We are all in this together" could go beyond national borders and erase some of the differences that have prevented this"-- Provided by publisher. |
