Care and Exclusion: Exclusion Area Zones as a Social Distance Measure in Times of a Pandemic
Author
Kindberg, Joan Ellingsgaard
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2021
Submitted on
2021-04-19
Pages
49
Abstract
This thesis examines how care is reconfigured during the Covid-19 pandemic and the spatial and temporal implications of that reconfiguration. Focusing on Copenhagen’s public spaces, it analyzes the introduction of exclusion area zones as a social distancing measure through a case study based on observations of the Nørrebro Park skatepark and the adjacent outdoor area of Café Friheden when both were designated as exclusion zones in autumn 2020. The study combines a more-than-human ontological perspective—tracing care in both human and material forms (posters, face masks, hand sanitizers)—with a Foucauldian genealogical approach to biopolitics/biopower and a historical contextualization of earlier epidemic management in Copenhagen. The case is situated within the revised Epidemic Act and police practice and related to a contemporary policy proposal for “safety-enhancing exclusion area zones.” The analysis indicates that care in these zones appears in ambiguous ways: prominently as regulation materialized through distancing objects and the temporary emptying of an otherwise popular public space, yet also through subtle everyday practices such as elbow greetings and curved, distanced passing. The thesis further argues that elements of pandemic-era politics of care may become normalized over time, shaping urban planning and future legislation.
Denne afhandling undersøger, hvordan omsorg omformes under Covid-19-pandemien, og hvilke rumlige og tidslige konsekvenser dette har. Med udgangspunkt i københavnske byrum analyseres særligt indførelsen af opholdsforbudszoner (exclusion area zones) som et socialt distancegreb, med en case baseret på observationer af skateparken i Nørrebroparken og det tilstødende udeareal ved Café Friheden, da området i efteråret 2020 blev gjort til opholdsforbudszoner. Afhandlingen kombinerer et mer-end-menneskeligt ontologisk perspektiv, der opsporer omsorg i både mennesker og materialiteter (plakater, mundbind, håndsprit), med en foucauldiansk genealogisk tilgang til biopolitik/biomagt og en historisk kontekstualisering af tidligere epidemihåndteringer i København. Juridisk og institutionelt forankres casen i den reviderede Epidemilov og politiets praksis, og den sættes i relation til et aktuelt lovudspil om “tryghedsskabende opholdsforbud”. Analysen peger på, at omsorg i zonerne viser sig tvetydigt: overvejende som regulering, materialiseret gennem afstandsobjekter og midlertidig tømning af et ellers populært offentligt rum, men også som subtile hverdagspraksisser som albuehilsner og afstandskurver i møder mellem mennesker. Afhandlingen argumenterer desuden for, at dele af pandemiens omsorgspolitikker kan normaliseres over tid og præge byplanlægning og fremtidig lovgivning.
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