[D66] The Quarantine Files - LARB

[R.O.]

https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/


APRIL 14, 2020


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            ¤


        Introduction by Brad Evans

THREE WEEKS AGO, I was sitting in front of my computer at home trying to 
finish an essay on educating children. But I was unable to concentrate. 
A broadcaster with a notably concerned expression was reporting on the 
spread of the coronavirus, which was now advancing across mainland 
Europe. It was no longer a “Chinese problem,” which many had hoped to 
keep at a “safe distance.” Its effects were becoming a global issue. As 
the days passed, any concept of time I had was replaced by the rising 
tide of casualty statistics. I watched as the anxiety and concern spread 
almost as quickly as the virus itself.

I kept thinking about “domino” and “butterfly” “effects” and how 
radically interconnected we truly were. Admittedly ignorant to the 
science, I needed to find out more, but the “news” was no comfort. As 
nations started falling victim one by one to the virus, we all started 
coming to terms with the vocabulary of “lockdown,” “isolation,” and 
“quarantine.” Some undoubtedly responded in a more humane way than others.

Like many authors, I wanted to say something, partly I now see for my 
own sanity, but didn’t know where to begin. I just knew that I was 
becoming increasingly concerned, not only for the welfare of others, but 
of my loved ones, family, friends, and companions alike. Writing has 
always been my therapy to the horrors of the world. And I still maintain 
there is no better reason to write or express — in any medium — than to 
feel the world’s beauty and pain. But was it all simply too close or too 
reactionary?

There certainly was no shortage of reflections being offered. Everyone 
is now an expert, it seems, and yet never have we felt more in the dark 
about outcomes — even the most basic, questioning whether there will be 
enough food to go around. But I couldn’t find the words to do justice to 
this unfolding tragedy, except to repeat the warnings from history and 
the need to be vigilant to its political effects. I now see my inertia 
was revealing of a deeper fear and a sense of foreboding: that of being 
alone, writing alone.

When proposing this edition to the editorial team at the /Los Angeles 
Review of Books/, I therefore had the simple intuition there were 
probably others who wanted to respond, but also not simply /in/ 
isolation. What I have also discovered is that they too had doubts. Some 
initially committed and then withdrew for reasons all too 
understandable. What was the point of saying anything right now? Should 
we not spend more time reflecting on the significance? Might we not 
simply reaffirm our own privileged positions? Worse still, might our 
interventions come across as parasitic to the virus?

Following supportive discussions with my loving wife and the editorial 
team, I set about to bring together a small group of critical thinkers, 
artists, and poets who could all in their own way share their thoughts 
and concerns. My intention was not to create some unified voice, 
resilience style help-guide, or mini-manual for political survival. It 
was to invite responses from authors who might reveal their own unique 
tensions, fears, and even doubts about the types of interventions the 
world needs right now.

Despite the reservations, I don’t think I’ve ever been more humbled by 
the responses and the trust the contributors to this curated volume have 
shown in these desperate times.

I do hope these contributions help spark conversations on how we move 
forward, which will no doubt continue in the years to come.

¤

 1. <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn1>Kehinde
    Andrews
    <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn1>:
    “The Other Pandemic”
 2. <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn2>Lauren
    Berlant
    <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn2>:
    “In the morning I yell”
 3. <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn3>Russell
    Brand
    <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn3>:
    “All I need is the air that I breathe (And to love you)”
 4. <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn4>Wendy
    Brown
    <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn4>:
    “From Exposure to Manifestation”
 5. <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn5>Jake
    Chapman
    <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn5>:
    “Four Weddings and a Mass Grave”
 6. <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn6>Simon
    Critchley
    <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn6>:
    “Sorry to Disappoint (I knew I should have been a hairdresser)”
 7. <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn7>Camille
    Dungy
    <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn7>:
    “Winter: Past is Prelude”
 8. <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn8>Cynthia
    Enloe
    <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn8>:
    “Pulling my COVID-19 language out of the trenches”
 9. <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn9>Roberto
    Esposito
    <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn9>:
    “Instituting Life”
10. <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn10>Brad
    Evans
    <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn10>:
    “The Love Leviathan”
11. <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn11>Simona
    Forti
    <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn11>:
    “Pan-demic: All people-in-one or pandemonium?”
12. <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn12>Henry
    A. Giroux
    <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn12>:
    “The Plague of Neoliberalism and the Politics of Pandemics”
13. <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn13>David
    Theo Goldberg
    <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn13>:
    “Tracking Capitalism and COVID-19”
14. <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn14>Jack
    Halberstam
    <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn14>:
    “Frantic”
15. <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn15>Saidiya
    Hartman
    <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn15>:
    “The Death Toll”
16. <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn16>Brian
    Massumi
    <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn16>:
    “The American Virus”
17. <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn17>Todd
    May
    <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn17>:
    “This is Not the Time for Theory”
18. <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn18>Chantal
    Meza
    <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn18>:
    “Viral Ecologies: A Litany for Our Times”
19. <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn19>Nicholas
    Mirzoeff
    <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn19>:
    “Notes from the Necropolis”
20. <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn20>Adrian
    Parr
    <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn20>:
    “Crisis”
21. <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn21>Julian
    Reid
    <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn21>:
    “Our Big War”
22. <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn22>Eugene
    Thacker
    <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn22>:
    “Pathological Life”
23. <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn23>McKenzie
    Wark
    <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn23>:
    “She’s Not There”
24. <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn24>Eyal
    Weizman
    <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn24>:
    “Surveilling the Virus”
25. <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn25>George
    Yancy
    <https://lareviewofbooks.org/article/quarantine-files-thinkers-self-isolation/#_ftn25>:
    “Bodies Without Edges: Rethinking Borders of Invulnerability”


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