The Frontline as Performative Frame: An Analysis of the UK COVID Crisis

Farris, Sara; Nira, Yuval-Davis; Rottenberg, Catherine

Abstract

In this paper, we examine the multiple significations of the “frontline” metaphor in the UK during the first ten months of COVID-19. We argue that the term “frontline” has operated as a performative frame, which has helped to produce the very notion and the materialization of the “COVID-19 frontline” and keyworkers. Showing how the UK government has repeatedly cited this metaphor, we outline the contradictory effects it has generated through an interplay of hyper-visibility and opaqueness. The frontline metaphor has been used to justify the government's injection of massive amounts of public money into the economy, render hyper-visible workers who had previously been invisible, whilst generating a sense of civic responsibility. Simultaneously, however, the metaphor has created a smokescreen for corrupt practices, deflecting attention away from resource-starved health and social care infrastructures and intensifying forms of “everyday bordering” and “everyday racism” that deepen structural injustices in the UK.

Citation

Farris, S., Nira, Y.-D., & Rottenberg, C. (2021). The Frontline as Performative Frame: An Analysis of the UK COVID Crisis. State Crime Journal, 10(2), 284-303. https://doi.org/10.13169/STATECRIME.10.2.0284

• Journal Article Type: Article
• Acceptance Date: Aug 1, 2021
• Online Publication Date: Feb 18, 2022
• Publication Date: Jan 1, 2021
• Deposit Date: Feb 4, 2022
• Publicly Available Date: Feb 8, 2022
• Journal: State Crime Journal
• Print ISSN: 2046-6056
• Electronic ISSN: 2046-6064
• Publisher: Pluto Journals
• Peer Reviewed: Peer Reviewed
• Volume: 10
• Issue: 2
• Pages: 284-303
• DOI: https://doi.org/10.13169/STATECRIME.10.2.0284
• Public URL: https://nottingham-repository.worktribe.com/output/7378214
• Publisher URL: https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.13169/statecrime.10.2.0284?refreqid=excelsior%3A9c349edd43790cb5489cad1b87a79545#metadata_info_tab_contents
• Additional Information: This Journal Article is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International License (CC BY-NC-ND 4.0)