6 – Pandemic geopolitics

Question 1

Describe two examples of geopolitical imaginaries of the state.

Answer 1

(Wang et al., 2020) - responses to COVID 19 have adhered to the ‘territorial trap’

(Agnew, 1994) - the state is the spatial entity of politics

Question 2

How did borders act as a geopolitical tool during the COVID-19 pandemic?

Answer 2

Borders became a vital geopolitical tool as a barrier that creates safety for New Zealand and its citizens - the state is a paramount, sovereign entity with unimpeachable territories surrounded by impenetrable borders

Question 3

How did bubbles act as a geopolitical agents during the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand?

Answer 3

(Fitzmaurice, 2021) - Maori 6 times more likely to die early than other grounps - Iwi-led checkpoints protected family and the elderly by preventing people from entering their areas for any reason

Question 4

Describe geopolitics of kindness and care and how this was seen in the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand.

Answer 4

(Ardern, 2020) - ‘Be kind’ - a step towards repairing the broken relationship with the state and politics - COVID-19 pandemic revealed how processes of the state can be about care and kindness -

Question 5

Describe the geopolitics of control established during the COVID-19 pandemic in New Zealand.

Answer 5

Many people felt that their personal liberties had been violated, and therefore, this created a deep mistrust of governmental bodies within a certain subsect of the population - many New Zealanders feel that the coutnry is more divided than it was before the pandemic