After Lockdown, Opening Up

“This is a remarkably creative book, and a creature of lockdown. It illustrates the fraught possibilities at play in liminal fields during times of crisis. Do not expect the familiar patterns of ‘normal science’, because this is a book proudly exhibiting research in process of formation, brimming with new ideas, hopes and reflections, but also bristling with critical intent. It gives great importance to lived experiences from multiple perspectives, ever keeping in sight socio-political issues of difference, injustice, and inequality.” 
— Paul Stenner, Open University, UK


This edited volume examines the psychosocial transformations experienced during the COVID-19 pandemic and lockdown, and envisions those that might lead to a more equitable society as we ‘open up’. The book integrates psychoanalysis, sociology, cultural studies, and psychology to address three main areas: personal experiences of the lockdown, new formations of power and desire that the lockdown has shaped, and global concerns related to the pandemic. Within those three areas, the chapters discuss key themes that include the uses of space during lockdown; experiences of death, loss, and domestic violence; race and the pandemic; technology, media, and viral media; chronic illness; handwashing and COVID-19; and conspiracy theories.

Drawing together academics and practitioners with a common vision of social justice and active pedagogy, the contents of this volume combine experiential writing with cutting-edge, theoretically-informed interdisciplinary debates. The book advances and demonstrates the productive diversity of psychosocial studies, drawing on psychoanalytic theories, critical psychologies, critical theories, critical race theories, process philosophies, affect theories, and critical pedagogy. In doing so, it will appeal to scholars across the social sciences.

Darren Ellisis Senior Lecturer and Course Leader of Psychosocial Community Work at the University of East London, UK.

Angie Voela is a Reader in Social Sciences at the University of East London, UK.