Politics of sickness: Political struggles over the meaning of "sick” in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia
Downloads
In dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic, political actors in Indonesia tend to interpret "sick” in different ways. This study aims to discuss practices of political struggles over the meaning of "sick” in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia. By using qualitative discourse analysis where data were mainly obtained from January to October 2020, this study found that political struggles over the meaning of "sick” in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia were dominated by three major powers, namely the government, capitalist, and medical professionals. The meaning of "sick” given by these groups is not only different but also keeps changing from time to time, especially in certain political moments. This study found four important political moments which were closely related to the way these three groups of actors interpret the meaning of "sick” in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. In one moment, "sick” was interpreted narrowly, while in another moment, "sick” was interpreted broadly. This study concludes that the struggle for the meaning of sick is an inherent practice in dealing with the COVID-19 pandemic in Indonesia. A further consequence is that the meaning of sick is not fixed as it is known so far but is more unfixed and contingent.
Abraham J (1995) Science, Politics and Pharmaceutical Industry. London: Routledge.
Alvesson M & Skolberg K (2000) Reflexive Methodology: New Vistas for Qualitative Researh. London: Sage Publication.
Arney J & Menjivar C (2015) Disease mongering in direct"to"consumer advertising and the expansion of the antidepressant market. Socialogical Inquiry 84 (4):519-544.
Asmara CG (2020) Cegah corona ala pejabat RI: Jamu, susu kuda liar, nasi kapau. CNBC Indonesia, 12 March. [Accessed 16 June 2021]. https://www.cnbcindonesia.com/news/20200312153157-4-144410/cegah-corona-ala-pejabat-ri-jamu-susu-kuda-liar-nasi-kapau.
Baker SR, Bloom N, Davis SJ, Kost K, Sammon M, & Viratyosin T (2020) The unprecedented stock market reaction to COVID-19. The Review of Asset Pricing Studies 10 (4):742-758.
Clarke AE, Mamo L, Fosket JR, Fishman JR, & Shim JK (2010) Biomedicalization: Technoscience, Health, and Illness in the U.S. Durham: Duke University Press.
Conrad P (2007) The Medicalization of Society: On the Transformation of Human Conditions into Treatable Disorders. Baltimore: The Johns Hopkins University Press.
Conrad P & Schneider JW (1992) Deviance and Medicalization: From Badness to Sickness. Philadelphia: Temple University Press.
Doran E & Henry D (2008) Disease mongering: Expanding the boundaries of treatable disease. Internal Medical Journal 38 (11):858-861. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1445-5994.2008.01814.x.
Dumit J (2012) Drugs for Life: How Pharmaceutical Companies Define Our Health. Durham: Duke University Press.
Fealy G (2020) Jokowi in the Covid-19 era: Repressive pluralism, dynasticism and the overbearing state. Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies 56 (3):301-323.
Geertz C (1989) Abangan, Santri, Priyayi dalam Masyarakat Jawa. Jakarta: Pustaka Jaya.
Howarth D (2005) Applying Discourse Theory: The Method of Articulation. In: Howarth D & Torfing J. (Eds). Discourse Theory in European Politics: Identity, Policy and Govenance. London: Palgrave Macmillan. 316-349.
Illich I (1977) Medical Nemesis: The Appropriation of Health. New York: Bantam Books.
Klein N (2020) How big tech plans to profit from the pandemic. The Guardian, 13 May. [Accessed 16 June 2021]. https://www.theguardian.com/news/2020/may/13/naomi-klein-how-big-tech-plansto-profit-from-coronavirus-pandemic.
Laclau E & Mouffe C (1985) Hegemony and Socialist Strategy: Towards a Radical Democratic Politics. London: Verso.
Levy B (2020) The Virus in the Age of Madness. Yale: Yale University Press.
Mietzner M (2020) Populist anti-scientism, religious polarisation, and institutionalised corruption: How indonesia democratic decline shaped its COVID-19 response. Journal of Current Southeast Asian Affairs 39 (2):227-249. https://doi.org/10.1177/1868103420935561.
Moynihan R & Cassels A (2005) Selling Sickness: How Drug Companies are Turning Us All into Patient. Crows Nest NSW: Allen & Unwin.
Olivia S, Gibson J & Nasrudin R (2020) Indonesia in the time of Covid-19. Bulletin of Indonesian Economic Studies 56 (2):143-174.
Payer L (1992) Disease-Mongers: How Doctors, Drug Companies, and Insurers are Making You feel Sick. New York: John Wiley & Son Inc.
Phillips N & Hardy C (2002) Discourse Analysis: Investigating Process of Social Construction. London: Sage Publication.
Setyawan FA (2020) Media asing soroti Jokowi minum jamu untuk tangkal corona. CNN Indonesia, 16 March. [Accessed 16 June 2021]. https://www.cnnindonesia.com/internasional/20200316113437-106-483794/media-asing-soroti-jokowi-minum-jamuuntuktangkal-corona.
Tempo (2020a) Pemerintah waspadai masuknya virus corona. Tempo, 29 January. [Accessed 16 June 2021]. https://koran.tempo.co/read/nasional/449687/pemerintah-waspadai-masuknya-viruscorona?.
Tempo (2020b) Tak ada Pilihan yang Enak. Simalakama Normal Baru, 1-7 June, 84-87.
Tiefer L (2006) Female sexual dysfunction: A case study of disease mongering and activist resistance. Plos Medicine 3 (4):436440. https://doi.org/10.1371/journal.pmed.0030178.
Turner BS (1987) Medical Power and Social Knowledge. London: Sage Publication.
Williams SJ, Martin P, & Gabe J (2011) The pharmaceuticalisation of society? A framework for analysis. Sociology of Health & Illness 33 (5):710-725. https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-9566.2011.01320.x.
Winkelman M (2009) Culture and Health: Applying Medical Anthropology. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
Zakaria F (2020) Ten Lessons for a Post Pandemic World. New York: W. W. Norton Company.
Copyright (c) 2022 Masyarakat, Kebudayaan dan Politik
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike 4.0 International License.
Copyright of this journal is possession of Editorial Board and Journal Manager, by the knowledge of the author, while the moral right of the publication belongs to the author.
The formal legal aspect of journal publication accessibility refers to Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-ShareAlike (CC BY-NC-SA), implies that publication can be used for non-commercial purposes in its original form (cannot be modified).
Every publication (printed/electronic) are open access for educational purposes, research, and library. Other than the aims mentioned above, the editorial board is not responsible for copyright violation.