The Changing Individualist Ideology during the COVID-19 Pandemic

First Name
Irina-Ana
Last Name
Drobot
Institution/University
Technical University of Civil Engineering Bucharest
Conference Panels
Paper/Abstract submission

The purpose of this paper is to analyse ways in which individualism has been changing during the time of the COVID-19 pandemic. While such an issue can only require a collectivist mindset in order to be under control, the individualist values around the world have suffered a lot and could change even after the pandemic.

What issues does the COVID-19 pandemic trigger? Most importantly, global inequalities are on the rise, due to unequal opportunities of access to health resources, and later on due to certain jobs which were no longer practiced under lockdown conditions. However, regardless of the pandemic, there has always been economic inequality worldwide, according to Stiglitz (2012).

Under these conditions, in what ways can we speak of a crisis of the values of individualism? After all, the isolation during the pandemic, such as the lockdown and the quarantine, promote individualism. Yet, at the same time, protests against the restrictive measures and the lack of rights of those unvaccinated show that the individualist values, together with the usual liberties of the citizen, are threatened. In what ways will all these lead to a change in individualist ideology?

Keywords: Values, lockdown, quarantine, protests, isolation, inequality