Mentalities and the Global COVID-19 Pandemic

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Dr. Jerome Krase

Abstract

This article explores the interplay between "mentality" and historical distortion, emphasizing the significance of understanding diverse mentalities in the context of the global COVID-19 pandemic. Linking "mentality" to a general "attitude," the discussion covers contemporary issues such as racism and authoritarianism, situating them within the pandemic's framework. The analysis integrates classical sociological perspectives, including Symbolic Interactionism and theories of solidarity. Examining the pandemic's impact, the article applies theoretical frameworks of risk and uncertainty, emphasizing disruptions to social interactions. It explores the role of information systems, digital technology, and media in shaping perceptions and disseminating misinformation. The latter part investigates global disinformation, resistance, and protests, highlighting varied responses influenced by regional, national, and local conditions.


DOI:
https://doi.org/10.61439/TGQZ4337

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Author Biography

Dr. Jerome Krase, Brooklyn College of The City University of New York

Murray Koppelman Professor, and Professor Emeritus, at Brooklyn College of The City University of New York. President of European Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. After graduating from the elite Brooklyn Technical High School in 1960, he went on to study at Indiana University’s Bloomington Campus. There, after a three-year enlistment in the U.S. Army, he earned a BA in Sociology, with minors in History and Philosophy, in 1967. In 1973, he received a Ph.D. in Sociology at New York University in 1973. His Doctoral Dissertation “The Presentation of Community in Urban Society,” dealt with the undeserved stigmatization of a Black neighborhood in Brooklyn, thereby questioning unwarranted negative racial stereotypes in general.

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