Choose one of the essay questions below and answer it in no more than four pages. There are no right or wrong answers to these essays. Your grade will be determined by your ability to correctly analyze the situation using the relevant concepts. Be sure to bring in the voices of relevant thinkers from our course materials.
We use fictive characters to prime your memory, but please feel free to address the topics below without referencing the fictive characters. Be sure to discuss multiple authors in your answer–focusing only on one writer/reading will not meet our expectations.
3. The Coronavirus emergency is a historical event that will yield extensive scholarly debate in years to come. Reflecting on this traumatic period, Jorge, Sam, Melissa, Jack, and Melinda shared their thoughts. Jorge argued that the works of Javier Lezaun, Michael Heller, and Rebecca Eisenberg on patenting provide useful concepts for thinking about the struggle to contain coronavirus. On the other hand, Sam suggested that rationalization, as outlined by Max Weber, is invaluable in understanding both the spread of the virus and the struggles around the best way to contain it. Melissa suggested that understanding the spread and botched efforts to prevent the spread of the virus in the United States requires that we pay attention to labor markets and how different technologies shape workers’ ability to withstand market shocks and closure (Mitchell, Irani, and Felstinger play an essential role in her thinking). Jack did not contradict others but argued that Weingart’s perspective on the current crisis is that expertise best explains the US response to the pandemic. Finally, Melinda suggested that our understanding of the crisis on how difficult it is for people to “socially distance” can be analyzed through Sherry Turkle’s argument on social relationships and the internet. Who, in your educated opinion, is correct? Your answer does not have to touch on all the authors/theories mentioned above, but be sure to include at least three.