In this paper I argue that the new coronavirus pandemic has brought to light some of the contradictions and paradoxes of our time, namely the contrast between human fragility and the technological hubris linked to the fourth industrial revolution (artificial intelligence); and the contrast between the TINA ideology (there is no alternative) and the sudden and extreme changes in our everyday life caused by the virus, thus suggesting that there are indeed alternatives. I then analyse the main metaphors that have been used in public discourse concerning our relations with the virus: the virus as an enemy; the virus as a messenger; the virus as pedagogue. I prefer the last one and explain why, and in what sense the virus is our contemporary.
Key words: pandemic, globalisation, contemporaneity, inequality
Key messages
• The pandemic marks the beginning of the 21st century.
• We are entering a period of intermittent pandemic.
• The new coronavirus brought to light some of the contradictions of our time, namely the contrast between human fragility and the technological hubris linked to the fourth industrial revolution (artificial intelligence); and the contrast between the TINA ideology (there is
no alternative) and the sudden and extreme changes in our everyday life which suggest that there are indeed alternatives.
• The virus is our contemporary in more senses than we can imagine at this point.
Original Contents by Global Social Challenges Journal, vol 1, 21-39
