Papers by Valentina Capurri
Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography
In this paper, we critically analyze the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting not only... more In this paper, we critically analyze the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting not only the breadth of knowledge geographers have already contributed to this assessment, but also the surprisingly limited critique within geography, social sciences and the broadly defined “Academic Left” of the authoritarian dimension of the public health policies of 2020 onwards. We conclude with a number of research questions for the aftermath of the pandemic, with the hope that they will help spur the growth of a new wave of anti-authoritarian Leftist geographical thinking that reaffirms the centrality of human rights and civil liberties to making the world a better place. Key words: COVID-19; authoritarianism; public health; Academic Left; pandemic response. HOW TO CITE: Simandan, D., Rinner, C., Capurri, V., (2023). The academic left, human geography, and the rise of authoritarianism during the COVID-19 pandemic. Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography, https://doi.org/10.1080/04353684.2023.2168560.
Canadian Journal of Disability Studies
Laura Bisaillon’s Screening Out is a brilliant and much needed study of one barely known aspect o... more Laura Bisaillon’s Screening Out is a brilliant and much needed study of one barely known aspect of the Canadian immigration system: the medical screening of immigration applicants and the mandatory testing for HIV.
Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography, 2024
In this paper, we critically analyze the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting not only... more In this paper, we critically analyze the response to the COVID-19 pandemic, highlighting not only the breadth of knowledge geographers have already contributed to this assessment, but also the surprisingly limited critique within geography, social sciences and the broadly defined “Academic Left” of the authoritarian dimension of the public health policies of 2020 onwards. We conclude with a number of research questions for the aftermath of the pandemic, with the hope that they will help spur the growth of a new wave of anti-authoritarian Leftist geographical thinking that reaffirms the centrality of human rights and civil liberties to making the world a better place.
Key words: COVID-19; authoritarianism; public health; Academic Left; pandemic response.
HOW TO CITE: Simandan, D., Rinner, C., Capurri, V., (2024). The academic left, human geography, and the rise of authoritarianism during the COVID-19 pandemic. Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography, vol. 106, issue 2, pp. 175-195, https://doi.org/10.1080/04353684.2023.2168560.
Canadian Journal of Disability Studies , 2022
In this article, I explore the societal reluctance to accommodate and include persons with illnes... more In this article, I explore the societal reluctance to accommodate and include persons with illnesses/disabilities, which has rendered them second class citizens. This reluctance exists despite several pieces of legislation whose goal is to create an inclusive and accepting social as well as physical environment across Canada. In October 2020, the Ontario government
introduced a mask mandate as a non med ical procedure to limit the spread of COVID 19. I argue that this mandate has further reduced civil society’s willingness to accommodate those who are unable to wear a mask due to their disability or medical condition, especially when their illness
or disa bility is not visibly discernible. By making use of the concept of “state of exception” developed by Giorgio Agamben, and the biopower/biopolitics paradigm introduced by Michel Foucault, I attempt to examine what the mask mandate means for persons with dis abilities as well as for society at large. My investigation is an effort to uncover why we are finding ourselves
in a situation of inaccessibility and exclusion at this moment in time, despite the widespread rhetoric of unity and support for each other throughout the pandemic. Through a reading of Agamben, I aim to uncover why persons with disabilities have been, once again, considered justifiable collateral damage on the altar of necessity (in this case, the necessity to fight COVID
19 at all costs).
Canadian Journal of Disability Studies
In this article, I explore the societal reluctance to accommodate and include persons with illnes... more In this article, I explore the societal reluctance to accommodate and include persons with illnesses/disabilities, which has rendered them “second-class” citizens. This reluctance exists despite several pieces of legislation whose goal is to create an inclusive and accepting social as well as physical environment across Canada. In October 2020, the Ontario government introduced a mask mandate as a non-medical procedure to limit the spread of COVID-19. I argue that this mandate has further reduced civil society’s willingness to accommodate those who are unable to wear a mask due to their disability or medical condition, especially when their illness or disability is not visibly discernible. By making use of the concept of “state of exception” developed by Giorgio Agamben, and the biopower/biopolitics paradigm introduced by Michel Foucault, I attempt to examine what the mask mandate means for persons with disabilities as well as for society at large. My investigation is an effort to u...
Studies in Social Justice, 2021
In this paper, I examine Canadian mainstream media’s response to Black Lives Matter Toronto, focu... more In this paper, I examine Canadian mainstream media’s response to Black Lives Matter Toronto, focusing in particular on two events that occurred in the city in the Summer of 2016 and Winter of 2017. By relying on Critical Race Theory, I argue that a White-dominated press has been unwilling to engage with the message presented by Black activists under the excuse that the tone of the message is overly harsh and threatening to White audiences. After analysing the historical roots of such a claim, I conclude that, in the current climate, there is no space for any dialogue in what remains an oppressor-oppressed relationship across the country, including in Toronto, Canada’s most multicultural city.
Disability Studies Quarterly
In this paper, I read the narrative developed by mainstream media in the Montoya case in the cont... more In this paper, I read the narrative developed by mainstream media in the Montoya case in the context of a dominant neoliberal understanding of the worth of persons with disabilities in Canadian society. I argue that the way newspapers framed the story of the Montoya family feeds into the neoliberal script of who counts as a human being, and thus results in a disservice to individuals with disabilities. I also situate the case in a broader historical context as I examine a few court cases, all including dependents, related to the medical admissibility provision. My goal is to demonstrate how the courts have validated the state argument that distinguishes between valuable (read economically profitable) and non-valuable immigrants, further entrenching the neoliberal discourse of who counts and who is disposable in our society. This is a concerning trend that results in the commodification and layering of citizenship and should be resisted.
Left History: An Interdisciplinary Journal of Historical Inquiry and Debate
Studies in Social Justice
Issues in Social Justice is an excellent overview of core concepts that inform the debate on soci... more Issues in Social Justice is an excellent overview of core concepts that inform the debate on social justice within an increasingly global context. Authors Tanya Basok and Suzan Ilcan, both sociologists, combine a strong theoretical analysis with more of an "on the ground" perspective that makes this text accessible not only to academics and professionals but also to students and the general public. In the introduction, the authors clarify that their study is intended to answer the three basic questions what, who, and how: what is relevant within a social justice context, who is included or excluded within the social justice discourse, and how decisions about the content of social justice are made (p. 4). They also define the meaning given throughout the text to the concept of social justice, understood as a process of change rather than a fixed status, a process that is not linear, but rather proceeds with advancements and reversals. Chapter 2 provides a comprehensive and clear outline of social justice in relation to social inclusion and its three fundamental dimensions: equal access, democratic political participation, and cultural diversity. The discussion highlights how struggles for social justice do not necessarily encompass everyone, but rest on the inclusion of some and the exclusion of others. It is therefore essential to ask not only what kind of rights, benefits, and privileges should be provided to people in a socially just society, but also who is allowed to claim these rights and who is excluded from them.
Studies in Social Justice
In this paper, I focus on the story of Omar Khadr, a Canadian minor who was held captive in Guant... more In this paper, I focus on the story of Omar Khadr, a Canadian minor who was held captive in Guantanamo Bay for a decade, to demonstrate that, at times, neither citizenship nor human rights offer any protection to those who, like Khadr, are citizens of a country and are certainly human beings, yet have been deprived of the rights associated with those statuses. By drawing on Hannah Arendt’s argument in The Origins of Totalitarianism, as well as some of her subsequent work, I critically assess the debate regarding whether the rights conferred upon citizens are the only true barriers against abuse, or whether human rights have become a more effective protection. I suggest that this debate is sterile as it fails to recognize that the issue is not which set of rights offers a better guarantee of protection, but how the discourse around citizenship and human rights remains racialized, to the point where certain individuals are considered neither citizens nor humans, and therefore are pote...
Studies in Social Justice, 2021
In this paper, I examine Canadian mainstream media's response to Black Lives Matter Toronto, focu... more In this paper, I examine Canadian mainstream media's response to Black Lives Matter Toronto, focusing in particular on two events that occurred in the city in the Summer of 2016 and Winter of 2017. By relying on Critical Race Theory, I argue that a White-dominated press has been unwilling to engage with the message presented by Black activists under the excuse that the tone of the message is overly harsh and threatening to White audiences. After analysing the historical roots of such a claim, I conclude that, in the current climate, there is no space for any dialogue in what remains an oppressor-oppressed relationship across the country, including in Toronto, Canada's most multicultural city.). In the presentation, Lorde examines how anger is one of Black women's responses to racism despite the inability and unwillingness of White women, including many female-identified academics attending the conference, to bear witness to that anger. Lorde was pinpointing White women's refusal to listen under the cover that the tone used to convey the message was excessively harsh and was therefore perceived as threatening. Thirty-nine years later, Black individuals, and Black women in particular, are still faced with similar challenges and with White society's unwillingness to listen to the message conveyed by their anger, and the excuse is the same: the tone is too loud and intimidating. In this paper I investigate how the discourse developed in Canadian mainstream media around the actions and speeches of Black Lives Matter Toronto (BLMTO) has operated to silence the concerns raised by the group. The constant attention to the tone rather than content of the message is used to invalidate
In this paper, I read the narrative developed by mainstream media in the Montoya case in the cont... more In this paper, I read the narrative developed by mainstream media in the Montoya case in the context of a dominant neoliberal understanding of the worth of persons with disabilities in Canadian society. I argue that the way newspapers framed the story of the Montoya family feeds into the neoliberal script of who counts as a human being, and thus results in a disservice to individuals with disabilities. I also situate the case in a broader historical context as I examine a few court cases, all including dependents, related to the medical admissibility provision. My goal is to demonstrate how the courts have validated the state argument that distinguishes between valuable (read economically profitable) and non-valuable immigrants, further entrenching the neoliberal discourse of who counts and who is disposable in our society. This is a concerning trend that results in the commodification and layering of citizenship and should be resisted.
In this paper, I raise the question of whether forms of armed resistance to oppression have legal... more In this paper, I raise the question of whether forms of armed resistance to oppression have legal legitimacy and are part of a historical tradition. Focusing on African-Americans’ resistance to oppression from the late 1950s to the early 1970s and Palestinians’ resistance in the Gaza Strip during the Israeli attack in the summer of 2014, I argue that armed struggle should indeed be considered a legitimate expression of resistance whose goal is to counteract the violence of the oppressor, a violence that is seldom questioned in mainstream discourse. In particular, I question why the resistance of the oppressed is only accepted as valid when it is manifested nonviolently. I question “who” is permitted to use violence, in what contexts and spaces, and to protect whose interests. I argue that, despite the rhetoric around the equality of all human beings, some individuals continue to be assessed as possessing more rights than others based on race. White violence is seldom questioned, while the racialized “other” is considered potential threat whose cause can only be embraced when appealing to principles of nonviolence.
In this paper, I focus on the story of Omar Khadr, a Canadian minor who was held captive in Guant... more In this paper, I focus on the story of Omar Khadr, a Canadian minor who was held captive in Guantanamo Bay for a decade, to demonstrate that, at times, neither citizenship nor human rights offer any protection to those who, like Khadr, are citizens of a country and are certainly human beings, yet have been deprived of the rights associated with those statuses. By drawing on Hannah Arendt's argument in The Origins of Totalitarianism, as well as some of her subsequent work, I critically assess the debate regarding whether the rights conferred upon citizens are the only true barrier against abuse, or whether human rights have become a more effective protection. I suggest that this debate is sterile since it fails to recognize that the issue is not which set of rights offers a better guarantee of protection, but how the discourse around citizenship and human rights remains racialized, to the point where certain individuals are considered neither citizens nor humans, and therefore are potentially subject to abuse. Focusing on Canada's treatment of Khadr, I argue that racialization is the root cause of his denial of rights. My analysis aims to contribute to the existing literature by refocusing the " rights debate " to demonstrate that any discussion around abstract rights fails to address the experiences of those racialized subjects whose rights have been denied.
Since the initial formulation of a national immigration policy for the country in 1869, Canada ha... more Since the initial formulation of a national immigration policy for the country in 1869, Canada has included a provision of inadmissibility on the grounds of mental and/or physical disabilities. Whereas the provision was created with the intention of excluding from Canada those subjects who were considered a risk to the genetic integrity of the nation or ‘unemployable’ because of their disability, with time the emphasis has shifted to focus on the excessive costs that the disease or disability would likely place on Canadian medical and social services, particularly after the passage of Medicare in 1968. The focus of this article will be on the provision as included in the Immigration Act of 1976 since only after the passage of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms in 1982 has the provision been questioned as discriminatory towards persons with mental or physical disabilities
Geojournal, 2006
The paper represents an attempt to understand how, in a democratic and pluralistic state, it is p... more The paper represents an attempt to understand how, in a democratic and pluralistic state, it is possible to reconcile the values of individual freedom with those granted to minority groups. In this perspective, the paper argues that, without questioning the importance of differentiated cultural rights that allow cultural minorities to be on an equal footing with the mainstream society, women’s rights cannot be ignored. Instead, rights for women are not exclusive of any particular culture or society, being indeed one of the human rights common to all groups of people, those rights which attest to the existence of a bond among individuals as members of the human community.
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Papers by Valentina Capurri
Key words: COVID-19; authoritarianism; public health; Academic Left; pandemic response.
HOW TO CITE: Simandan, D., Rinner, C., Capurri, V., (2024). The academic left, human geography, and the rise of authoritarianism during the COVID-19 pandemic. Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography, vol. 106, issue 2, pp. 175-195, https://doi.org/10.1080/04353684.2023.2168560.
introduced a mask mandate as a non med ical procedure to limit the spread of COVID 19. I argue that this mandate has further reduced civil society’s willingness to accommodate those who are unable to wear a mask due to their disability or medical condition, especially when their illness
or disa bility is not visibly discernible. By making use of the concept of “state of exception” developed by Giorgio Agamben, and the biopower/biopolitics paradigm introduced by Michel Foucault, I attempt to examine what the mask mandate means for persons with dis abilities as well as for society at large. My investigation is an effort to uncover why we are finding ourselves
in a situation of inaccessibility and exclusion at this moment in time, despite the widespread rhetoric of unity and support for each other throughout the pandemic. Through a reading of Agamben, I aim to uncover why persons with disabilities have been, once again, considered justifiable collateral damage on the altar of necessity (in this case, the necessity to fight COVID
19 at all costs).
Key words: COVID-19; authoritarianism; public health; Academic Left; pandemic response.
HOW TO CITE: Simandan, D., Rinner, C., Capurri, V., (2024). The academic left, human geography, and the rise of authoritarianism during the COVID-19 pandemic. Geografiska Annaler: Series B, Human Geography, vol. 106, issue 2, pp. 175-195, https://doi.org/10.1080/04353684.2023.2168560.
introduced a mask mandate as a non med ical procedure to limit the spread of COVID 19. I argue that this mandate has further reduced civil society’s willingness to accommodate those who are unable to wear a mask due to their disability or medical condition, especially when their illness
or disa bility is not visibly discernible. By making use of the concept of “state of exception” developed by Giorgio Agamben, and the biopower/biopolitics paradigm introduced by Michel Foucault, I attempt to examine what the mask mandate means for persons with dis abilities as well as for society at large. My investigation is an effort to uncover why we are finding ourselves
in a situation of inaccessibility and exclusion at this moment in time, despite the widespread rhetoric of unity and support for each other throughout the pandemic. Through a reading of Agamben, I aim to uncover why persons with disabilities have been, once again, considered justifiable collateral damage on the altar of necessity (in this case, the necessity to fight COVID
19 at all costs).