Author: salome.welgryn.19

The Bianchis, so named because of their white robes, were men, women, or children, leaving for nine days of pious processions, they could practice self-flagellation as a form of penance that mortified the body, demonstrated sorrow for sin, and joined one with Christ in his Passion. It is a movement of religious and popular devotion, mainly practiced in Italy, from the Alps to Rome. The groups were mostly uniting around 200 to 300 people moving from town to town. These groups could sometimes concern more than a thousand people (Black Death Facts, 2020).

During these nine days, they engaged in a variety of devotional practices: they visited churches and heard mass, listened to sermons, recited prayers, sang hymns, observed dietary restrictions, and called for peace and mercy. (Bornstein, n.d.) Practices could be done rather publicly or in private. Nine days were initially necessary to see off the threat of plague, but later the number of days changed, depending on the devotion and whether a procession was already occurring in a specific location (Lee, 2017). An example of songs they could sing is Stabat Mater, a hymn to Mary who testifies to her suffering during the crucification of Jesus. They could also to the practice of self-flagellation. This practice was done hoping to get redemption of their sins and escape from the plague. They demonstrated their religious fervor and sought atonement for their sins by vigorously whipping themselves in public displays of penance, aiming to achieve ‘Imitato Christi’: imitating the Christ. This movement became even more practiced during the period of the Black Death, around 1399.

This unified people believing in the same thing: religion could save them from the catastrophe occurring around them for which they did not have a scientific explanation. The fact of uniting and devoting together, hoping to be saved from the Plague was also a way for people to feel a part of a community. It was a collective devotion, making them feel surrounded and understood: there was an idea of community. Finally, this was also a way to have the feeling to act against the pandemic. As they didn’t have the science to explain the disease, turning to God was one of the only ways to take action against the horror that was happening in Europe and around the world. They felt the need to do something, try to have an impact on their environment.

By October 1349, Pope Clement VI proclaimed that the Flagellants were not following the rules of the Church (source). Local Church and secular leaders began to condemn them and/or forbid them from entry into their territories or cities (Euroform Healthcare, 2020). This didn’t stop the movement that continued to occur importantly in the 15th century and is still partly occurring today in times of crisis.

Black Death Facts. 2020. Flagellants • Black Death Facts. [online] Available at: <https://blackdeathfacts.com/flagellants/>

Bornstein, D., n.d. The Bianchi of 1399: Popular Devotion in Late Medieval Italy. Cambridge University Press.

Euroform Healthcare. 2020. The Flagellants – Bubonic Plague – Euroform Healthcare. [online] Available at: <https://www.euroformhealthcare.biz/bubonic-plague/the-flagellants.html>

Lee, A., 2017. Localising Collective Devotion: The Bianchi of 1399 at Lucca and Pistoia. London: UCL, pp.77-154.

Examples of the reproduction of sexist and racist discrimination by artificial intelligence have multiplied in recent years. This is not surprising, as the algorithms that allow AIs to function are fed by real data sets. They reproduce the biases of our societies and even have an unfortunate tendency to run in a loop, and thus reinforce them.

The number of women in the AI professions is particularly low and this has played an important role in the fact that women are thus under-represented in algorithms. According to Syntec numérique, women represent only 27% of employees in the sector

and only 11% in cybersecurity. It’s even worse in AI, with 10% of employees working on the subject at Google and 15% at Facebook’s specialist lab, according to a Wired survey.

A concrete example of the

problems in these algorithms: Last October, Amazon, which had been using artificial intelligence since 2014 to automatically sort CVs, ended this selection system, Reuters reported. Based on data collected between 2004 and 2014, the AI systematically gave low marks to applications from women for technical jobs, such as web developers. The main reason: during this period, the company hired almost exclusively men. The AI was simply reproducing what was being done, including sexism.

While researching the subject, a work by Cathy O’Neil particularly caught my attention.

She is a highly placed mathematician in the United States who has worked in large companies and banks.  In 2016, she published a book ‘Algorithms Weapons of Math Destruction’. Here she raises a civic alarm: we cannot remain spectators of a world where we are increasingly dependent on opaquely designed tools, used for commercial or security purposes and resulting in exacerbating inequalities.

In my opinion, it will be very difficult to change the system because algorithms are now established in almost everything we do. However, it is necessary to rethink the way they are made in order to be able to change things because the consequences of these technological tools are not negligible, and we don’t know yet how far it could go. Raises of awareness such as what Cathy O’Neil denounces in her book might be very helpful, can make a significant difference. We need to actively seek out the flaws in these programs in order to improve them.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Fouquet, C., 2018. Syntec Numérique se mobilise pour les femmes !. [online] Syntec-numerique.fr. Available at: <https://syntec-numerique.fr/actu-informatique/syntec-numerique-se-mobilise-pour-femmes>

Myers, B., 2019. Women and Minorities in Tech, By the Numbers. [online] Wired. Available at: <https://www.wired.com/story/computer-science-graduates-diversity/>

This paper will analyse the AIDS/HIV epidemic by defining a crisis by Edgar Morin, a French philosopher. The definition of the term so used ‘crisis’ varies according to the time in which it is used, the culture that evokes it, or the person who defines it. Thus, I will focus on Morin’s definition of the term to see if this pandemic would be defined as a crisis depending on his description of the term. In his writing ‘Pour une crisologie’ (Morin, 1976), he puts aside two definitions of the word crises at different moments in history that caught my attention: the definition of krisis in Ancient Greece, which means decision “the decisive moment in the evolution of an uncertain process, which allows the diagnosis to be made » (Koselleck, 2006), and today’s definition of a crisis that means indecision, “the moment when, at the same time as a disturbance, uncertainty arises”. By not thinking about the words we use, we end up falling into traps that obscure our vision, prevent us from understanding.  

AIDS is one of the most deadly infectious diseases in recent years. One million people have died of AIDS in 2016 worldwide, and 76.1 million since the beginning of the epidemic. (FRM, 2019). AIDS was officially diagnosed in 1981 at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where American researchers published the first significant findings of the disease. The virus was first diagnosed in 5 homosexual men, but it spread rapidly between continents, and scientists soon realised that heterosexuals were equally susceptible to the disease. In 1983 the name AIDS appeared: Acquired Immunodeficiency Virus. 

Morin’s definition of a crisis acknowledges four components related to a crisis in society. Firstly, he discussed the idea of ‘disruption’, which is when fear starts to set in society. Secondly, he describes the following phase when uncertainty enters because the regulatory system is no longer predictable. Thirdly, the philosopher explains that when the systems are disrupted, resources become unblocked. Finally, the last criterion of a crisis is that it triggers research activities. Point by point, this essay will break down these components and apply them to the HIV/AIDS pandemic, in order to determine if it would be considered a crisis in accordance with Morin’s understanding of the term.

The first component, ‘disruption’, applies when the usual rules that ensured stability no longer work and do not offer any solution to the problems of the crisis, thus creating unheard situations. It is at this point that fear starts to set in. This can be applied to HIV pandemics. The stability of the 80s was disrupted when an unknown virus killed several people across the world, focusing mainly on the US. By the end of 1981, the CDC linked more than hundreds of deaths to this new virus. They did not understand the causes and linked it to homosexuality, which had severe social consequences: the marginalisation of gay communities. Therefore, in 1981, the first medical name given to the virus was GRIDS (Gay-Related Immune Deficiency). No solution to the crisis was given, and as fear began to seep into society, homosexuals were accused. It was not until 1983 that the name AIDS started being used.

Secondly, another criterion in a crisis is the increase in disorder and uncertainty. When regulation systems work, they create determinisms that easily predict the consequences of actions or events. However, when this regulatory system no longer functions well, it becomes difficult to predict and uncertainty is born. The crisis thus leads to a “progression of uncertainties” and a “regression of determinism”. This could have been seen as a progression of uncertainty since it took years to understand the causes and consequences of the virus. Today, 50 years after the arrival of the virus, in spite of medical advancements, science has still not find a cure. Back then, with even less understanding, it became a political and social issue that increased uncertainty, fear, and disorder. Fortunately, in 1987, the World Health Organisation (WHO) established an AIDS program, which aimed to raise awareness about the pandemic; formulated evidence-based policies; provided technical and financial support to countries (mainly Uganda and Thailand as the most affected populations); initiated relevant social, behavioural, and biomedical research; promoted participation by non-governmental organisations; and championed the rights of those living with HIV. (Merson, 2006). In 1996, the Joint United Nations Programme replaced the program on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), which 10 UN agencies now sponsor.

Finally, in the case of AIDS/HIV, in my understanding, the two last criteria work together. For the third component of a crisis, the author talks about a process of blocking-unblocking. Indeed, the usual regulatory systems are blocked or disrupted. Becoming unable to offer solutions, unexploited resources are unblocked, and new potentials are fully revealed. The last component of a crisis is the triggering of research activities: as rules and ideas are destroyed, members of society engage in a movement of creativity in action, looking for solutions to “get out of the crisis”.

The scientific program created to find a cure to this epidemic, started in 1987 when the WHO started to raise awareness to limit the spread. Then a scientific panel was created in the UN, and in the mid-2000s, the global response accelerated rapidly, with universal access to treatment becoming a significant priority. We can see in the graph, it had an impact:

There has been a significant increase in the virus between 1980 and 2005; 2005 marked a peak for the virus, and new diagnoses have since declined, suggesting that the programs initiated in the early 2000’s positively impacted the curve by lowering the rate of growth of the virus release.

Later on in 2016, the UNAIDS program announced their plan to prioritise the disease, aiming to end AIDS by 2030. By 2025, more than 90% of countries will have decriminalised sex work, possession of small amounts of drugs, and same-sex sexual behaviour. (The Guardian, 2020)

This is for the medical response; as for creativity, the subject has been addressed in all kinds of art, mainly to raise awareness, spread information, and destigmatise the disease linked to homosexuals.

For instance, poster campaigns were launched in the United States in the mid 1980s to encourage people to protect themselves. The campaigns started with images of gay men and quickly added heterosexual couples and people of other ethnicities to remind populations that ‘everyone is at risk’ (Geiling, 2013)

As an example, this image published in 1985. 

This need to raise awareness and governments to take action is also well expressed in the French movie 120BPM from Robin Campillo released in 2017, retracing the life of an AIDS activist, where he emphasizes the state’s inaction against the disease and the critical role associations have played.

This art tool provides contextual information to understand more deeply what was occurring at the moment, the fear and emotions felt by the populations during this crisis. It reflects the reaction of men to this reversal of society to give a point of view and bear witness to an era.

We have seen that by cutting to the precise definition of the term ‘crisis’ by Edgar Morin, we can consider HIV/AIDS as a crisis. Today the word crisis is often overused, reducing the significance of the real meaning. As this word can provoke fear or anxiety in populations, in my opinion, it should be used appropriately, carefully, and constructively. If a precise and universal definition was used to employ the term, it would limit its use and make it more meaningful.

When comparing the policy response in the 1980s with today’s, it can give us much food for thought on global crisis management. Coronavirus was officially named a global pandemic two months after its detection in China, researchers from all over the world came together to create a vaccine in ten months, and media have talked only about it for a year now. Indeed, science is more developed today than in 1980, but it prompts a reflection on how politicians have been able to make this a non-priority for such a dangerous virus, while a less-lethal virus has taken on an unimaginable and unprecedented scale in the last year.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale (FRM). 2020. Tout savoir sur le sida. [online] Available at: <https://www.frm.org/recherches-maladies-infectieuses/sida/focus-sida>

Morin, E. and Béjin, A., 1976. Communcations – La notion de crise. pp.1-5.

Geiling, N., 2013. The Confusing and At-Times Counterproductive 1980s Response to the AIDS Epidemic. [online] Smithsonian Magazine. Available at: <https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-confusing-and-at-times-counterproductive-1980s-response-to-the-aids-epidemic-180948611/>

Koselleck, R., 2006. [online] JSTOR. Available at: <https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/30141882.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A87c13e30e338c00b0bd94455ac7db1ba>

Merson, M., 2006. The HIV–AIDS Pandemic at 25 — The Global Response | NEJM. [online] New England Journal of Medicine. Available at: <https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp068074>

The Guardian. 2020. This World Aids Day the global response to HIV stands on a precipice | Winnie Byanyima and Matthew Kavanagh. [online] Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/dec/01/this-world-aids-day-the-global-response-to-hiv-stands-on-a-precipice>

Tht.org.uk. 2020. HIV statistics | Terrence Higgins Trust. [online] Available at: <https://www.tht.org.uk/hiv-and-sexual-health/about-hiv/hiv-statistics>

Health, and in particular, ‘the right of everyone to the enjoyment of the highest attainable standard of physical and mental health’ is a human right. Not all countries have the same opinion on how to manage health for its population.

ICESCR (International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights ) has been ratified by 171 states, but not the US which is a global superpower. We wonder why they did not agree with these terms to guarantee a right to health.

The Affordable Care Act had been put in place during Obama’s presidency but there is a lack of affordability that makes the system not efficient enough to help people in need.

Since the United States has not been able to guarantee its people a right to health care, it has been creating huge inequalities for decades. The inequalities in the United States are mainly due to the fact that a very large part of Americans cannot afford health insurance, which is too expensive for them.

These inequalities lead Americans not to go to the doctor: Before the 2010 passage of the ACA, which progressively expanded health insurance coverage, 39% of Americans with below-average income reported not seeing a doctor for a medical problem because of cost, compared with 7% of low-income Canadians and 1% of those in the UK. Therefore Differences in life expectancy have been widening, with the wealthiest Americans now living 10–15 years longer than the poorest.

Medical bills are a major contributor to household debt and bankruptcy, comprising more than half of all unpaid personal debts sent to collection agencies (Dickman, Himmelstein and Woolhandler, 2017). Financing of health care in the USA is regressive, with poor and middle-class individuals paying a larger share of their incomes for care than the affluent, thereby deepening inequalities in disposable income

The united states has several helps for people in need which are Medicare and Medicaid, but these two programs are able to help certain people but it is quite limitied.  Those who did not fit into specific age, employment or income groups had little to no access to health care.

According to an article in the new york times, universal health care rights do not exist in the united states because it is an individualistic society and it is a racial issue (Interlandi, 2019). The title of the article is ‘Why doesn’t the United States have universal health care? The answer has everything to do with race’. Medicare, Medicaid, and the Affordable Care Act have helped shrink those disparities. But no federal health policy yet has eradicated them.

To conclude, the medical costs of the Americans represent a very important cost, and the better the quality of care, the higher the cost will be. This is a source of great inequality in the United States and results in households being left in great poverty. The election of Joe Biden represents hope for Americans because during his presidential term, and arriving in the context of a health crisis, he pledged to expand Medicare and Medicaid. This could represent a huge change to enhance social inequalities in the United States.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Dickman, S., Himmelstein, D. and Woolhandler, S., 2017. Inequality and the health-care system in the USA. [online] ScienceDirect. Available at: <https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S0140673617303987>

Equalityhumanrights.com. 2021. International Covenant on Economic, Social and Cultural Rights (ICESCR) | Equality and Human Rights Commission. [online] Available at: <https://www.equalityhumanrights.com/en/our-human-rights-work/monitoring-and-promoting-un-treaties/international-covenant-economic-social>

Interlandi, J., 2019. Why Doesn’t America Have Universal Health Care? One Word: Race. [online] Nytimes.com. Available at: <https://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2019/08/14/magazine/universal-health-care-racism.html>

The Masque of the Red Death is a novel published at the end of the 19th century, by Allan Poe.

The Red Death is the name given to the plague, it is personified through a guest who is going to make an appearance at a closed party. Prince Prospero and a thousand friends lock themselves up in an abbey in order to avoid contagion. They have all the leisure activities and supplies they need to survive. After six months, the prince organizes a masked ball. The ball took place in seven halls, each dedicated to a colour. The seventh hall is strange, even the dancers hesitate to enter. The described clock has a strange effect on those present: each ring makes them tremble and shiver. It was the prince himself who presided over the decoration of the halls. The last room is always unoccupied, this is due to its colours and the clock present there. At midnight, the clock, whose frightening sound provokes an anxious silence. This is the moment when the dancers notice the presence of a mask that horrifies them. All disapprove of the costume of the stranger who is dressed with a mask representing the Red Death. The prince asks for him to be seized, for his identity to be revealed so that he can be hanged. No one dares to approach him, so he passes by the prince and goes into the purple room without encountering the slightest obstacle. Prince Prospero then throws himself at the stranger, dagger in hand, and when he hits him he drops dead. The spectators of this sinister event throw themselves at the stranger and realise that there is no human form under the mask. They all die one after the other.

 

Edgar Allan Poe did not literally live through the plague and speaks here of a ‘red death’ which refers to the black plague. Even if he did not live it, he still describes important points that can be related to someone who has lived an pandemic.

 

The point that I would like to emphasize is how the anguish of the disease is presented in the form of an allegory. The plague is personified and enters the evening to infect all the guests. This terrifying personification describes the frightening but inevitable character of death and illness.The fact that death joins their party, despite the fact that the guests have confined themselves, shows the inevitability of death. Prince Propsero tried to escape death, but death is unavoidable.

The fact that death joins their party, despite the fact that the guests have confined themselves, shows the inevitability of death. Prince Propsero tried to escape death, but death is inevitable, it always comes back. Thus, this intrusion into the evening represents the arrival of disease and the ravages that the plague has had on entire populations, but also more generally the death that is catching up with the human condition.

AIDS is one of the most deadly infectious diseases. 1 million people will have died of AIDS in 2016 worldwide (up from 2 million in 2005), and 76.1 million since the beginning of the epidemic. ( FRM, 2019). AIDS was officially diagnosed in 1981 at the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), where American researchers published the first significant findings about the disease. The virus was first diagnosed in 5 homosexual men, but it spread rapidly between continents and scientists soon realised that heterosexuals were equally susceptible to the disease. The first name of the disease was Grids (Gay Related Immune Deficiency) and in 1983 the name Aids appeared: Acquired Immunodeficiency Virus.

It was not until six years later, in 1987, that the world health organization (WHO) established a program on aids. It aimed to raised awareness about the pandemic; formulated evidence-based policies; provided technical and financial support to countries which they did mainly in Uganda and Thailand; initiated relevant social, behavioral, and biomedical research; promoted participation by non-governmental organizations; and championed the rights of those living with HIV. (Merson, 2006). This need to raise awareness and for governments to take action is well expressed in the French movie 120BPM from Robin Campillo released in 2017 retracing the life of an AIDS activist.

In the mid-2000s, the global response accelerated rapidly with universal access to treatment becoming a major priority. Despite its achievements, the Global Programme to Fight AIDS has not mobilise enough the political will around the world. Therefore in 1996, the program was replaced by the Joint United Nations Programme on HIV/AIDS (UNAIDS), which is now sponsored by 10 UN agencies.

As we can see in the graph, there has been an important increase of the virus between 1980 and 2005. 2005 was a peak for the virus, new diagnoses have now been declining since then.

There were approximately 38 million people across the globe with HIV/AIDS in 2019 and approximately 81% of people with HIV globally knew their HIV status in 2019. (HIV gov, 2020)

Nevertheless, the UNAIDS program has in 2016 announced its plan to put more priority on the disease. They aim to have been able to end AIDS by 2030. These include a goal that by 2025 more than 90% of countries will have decriminalised sex work, possession of small amounts of drugs, and same-sex sexual behaviour. (The Guardian, 2020)

Comparing the policy response in the 1980s with that of today can give us much food for thought on global crisis management. Coronavirus was officially named as a global pandemic two months after its detection in China, researchers from all over the world came together to create a vaccine in about ten months, and the media have talked about this for a year now. Indeed, science is more developed today than it was in 1980 but it prompts a reflection on how politicians have been able to make this a non-priority for such a dangerous virus, while a less-lethal virus has taken on an unimaginable and unprecedented scale in the last year.

According to UNaids, the whole focus of covid 19 is to limit the creation and spread of drugs for people infected with AIDS, which could have serious consequences for the sick: has estimated that a six-month complete disruption in HIV treatment could lead to more than 500,000 additional deaths from AIDS-related illnesses.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

the Guardian. 2020. This World Aids Day the global response to HIV stands on a precipice | Winnie Byanyima and Matthew Kavanagh. [online] Available at: <https://www.theguardian.com/global-development/2020/dec/01/this-world-aids-day-the-global-response-to-hiv-stands-on-a-precipice>

Merson, M., 2006. The HIV–AIDS Pandemic at 25 — The Global Response | NEJM. [online] New England Journal of Medicine. Available at: <https://www.nejm.org/doi/full/10.1056/NEJMp068074>

Tht.org.uk. 2020. HIV statistics | Terrence Higgins Trust. [online] Available at: <https://www.tht.org.uk/hiv-and-sexual-health/about-hiv/hiv-statistics>

Fondation pour la Recherche Médicale (FRM). 2020. Tout savoir sur le sida. [online] Available at: <https://www.frm.org/recherches-maladies-infectieuses/sida/focus-sida>

By not thinking about the words we use, we end up falling into many traps that obscure our vision, prevent us from understanding, and sometimes enslave us.

We have seen the vision of Hannah Ardent and Benjamin on crises, I would like to focus on the famous French philosopher and sociologist Edgar Morin vision’s of it. In his writing ‘Pour une crisologie’  (Morin, 1976), he puts aside two definitions of the word crises at different moments in history that caught my attention: the definition of krisis in Ancient Greece which means decision « the decisive moment in the evolution of an uncertain process, which allows the diagnosis to be made », and today’s definition of a crisis that means indecision,  « the moment when, at the same time as a disturbance, uncertainty arises ». The definition that that one gives to a moment that bears witness to an epoch. The definition we give to a word is the testimony of an epoch.

Based on Edgar Morin’s view of a crisis, we can acknowledge 4 components that relate to a crisis in society.

-First of all, he talks about The idea of disruption: The usual rules that ensured stability at the time no longer work and do not offer any solution to the problems of the crisis, thus creating unheard of situations, it is at this point that fear starts to set in.

-In a second phase, Morin evokes an increase in disorder and uncertainty. When regulation systems work, they create determinisms that make it possible to easily predict the consequences of actions or events. However, when this regulatory system no longer functions totally (but only partially or not at all), it becomes difficult to predict. And it is through this door that uncertainty enters. The crisis thus leads to a “progression of uncertainties” and a “regression of determinisms”.

-Thirdly, the author talks about a process of blocking-unblocking. Indeed, the usual regulatory systems are blocked or disrupted. Becoming unable to offer solutions, hitherto unexploited resources are unblocked and new potentials are fully revealed.

-Finally, the last component of a crisis is the triggering of research activities: as rules and ideas are destroyed, members of society engage in a movement of creativity in action, looking for solutions to “get out of the crisis”.

Finally, the last aspect of its definition of a crisis that I would like to mention is its relationship to the future. According to Edgar Morin, a crisis is going to be decisive for the future and make things change. He speaks in particular of asking oneself questions in order to be able to learn lessons once the uncertainty has passed. He published a book in 2020 on the coronavirus crisis entitled ‘changer de voix’’Changing Paths’, in which he proposes a fairer world in the future.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

https://www.persee.fr/doc/comm_0588-8018_1976_num_25_1_1388

https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/30141882.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A87c13e30e338c00b0bd94455ac7db1ba.

The seventeenth century saw the confluence of wars, regime change, popular revolt, and natural disasters on an unprecedented, global scale

The 17th century was a century of rebellion against monarchical regimes. It was a general crisis in Europe where the people organised revolts to establish a regime of “mixed monarchy”.

James Harrington who, in 1656, diagnosed the general crisis which had produced such violent results in his own country of Oceana. “What”, he asked, “is become of the Princes of Germany? Blown up. Where are the Estates or the power of the people in France ? Blown up. Where is that of the people of Aragon and the rest of the Spanish kingdoms ? Blown up. Where is that of the Austrian princes in Switz? Blown up . . . (Trevor Roper, 1959)

1. social patterns

The social revolts organized in the 17th century were struggles for power, looking at the society’s structure, they have been damaged by the various episodes of the plague that have weakened the poor classes  and affected the countries demographic.

Between the 30 years war that took place at the beginning of the century and the various episodes of the plague, the European population experienced an important demographic decline starting in the firstplague episode in the 14th century that recovered around 1750. 

But also by the wars that have taken place in Europe in the 16th century and the beginning of the 17th that have weakened the monarchies in power. As a result, society became more fragile and this led to numerous revolts in a large part of European countries.

In I640 there was the revolt of Catalonia, which failed, and the revolt of Portugal, which succeeded: in I64I there was nearly a revolt of Andalusia too; in I647 there was the revolt of Naples, the revolt of Masaniello. To contemporary observers it seemed that society itself was in crisis, and that this crisis was general in Europe. (Trevor Roper, 1959)

III. economic patterns

the economic crisis of the 17th century in europe is mainly marked by the decline of the Mediterranean economies and the rise of north atlantic ones. The 16th century marked the beginnings of capitalism and the beginning of an industrial revolution that would leave its mark on the economy.

The consequences of social instability have reinforced the cleavages between social classes, creating a complicated economic climate. The classes then sought to find a better societal equilibrium. « the period was seen by some nations as Golden age, while it was for others an era of decadences or collapse ». (De Vries, 1976)

II. climate patterns

Geoffrey Parker has suggested that environmental factors may have been in part to blame, especially the global cooling trend of this period

At that time, the variations in harvests and the weather conditions, which largely determine them, exert an influence on the standard of living of the masses and on the whole economy, a great influence on the more decisive than nowadays

The climate was affected in several ways: first of all it was “the little ce age”, a period when the coldest temperatures were recorded (between the 15th and the 17th century), which then had a direct phenological impact on the crops, thus having a direct social and meteorological impact.

due to very cold temperatures, glaciers in Europe as well as in France and Norway have increased significantly.

 

bibliography

De Vries, J., 1976. The Economy of Europe in an Age of Crisis, 1600-1750. Cambridge University Press.

Le Roy Ladurie, E., 1960. Climat et récoltes aux XVIIe et XVIIIe siècles. [online] Available at: <https://www.persee.fr/docAsPDF/ahess_0395-2649_1960_num_15_3_421618.pdf> [Accessed 11 February 2021].

Trevor Roper, H., 1959. The General Crisis of the 17th Century on JSTOR. [online] Jstor.org. Available at: <https://www.jstor.org/stable/pdf/650152.pdf?refreqid=excelsior%3A8330cd9db8618191f7b57cb533b2af5b> [Accessed 11 February 2021].

In Defoe’s book, the great plague, he refers to an inequality faced by the less well-off in an epidemic. The cities are the places most infected by the disease because people are in very small spaces, and the disease can move from person to person much faster than in the countryside.

In Defoe’s book, he emphasizes the fact that the more affluent people have the possibility to leave and take refuge in their second home while the epidemic passes. He also shows how the poorest are much more exposed to the disease because their job are much more in contact with others. The main character, Henry Defoe himself has the choice (even if he decides to stay in London). This blog will focus on the inequalities caused by the various plague crises in the post-medieval years.

Depending on the indicators, some studies may prove that the plague has reduced inequalities, but this is due to the significant demographic consequences that the plague has engendered.

Alfani’s study seems to prove the 4 main factors that have led to a significant increase in inequalities: economic growth or urbanization, proletarianization and the creation of a political elite. The study focuses on economic, political and wealth factors(Alfani, 2015). Another study emphasizes the fact that demographic factors are central when explaining the rise of inequalities (Brea-Martínez, G, Pujadas-Mora, 2019).

The first graph, which focuses on Italy, shows that from the first episode of the plague, inequalities began to decrease until 1450, and then, along the numerous episodes of the plague, the inequalities became more and more pronounced. The last episode of the plague took place in 1665 and after this one we can see that the inequalities continue to increase even more rapidly

 

 

 

We can also see for instance in this graph that inequalities have increased enormously between before the first plague crisis and a century after the last one.

Taking England as an example, it had a Gini coefficient of 0.35 in 1300 (the closer the figure is to 0, the better the equality in the country), reaching 0.6 in 1800, a phenomenal gap.

 

 

Another idea evoked in the book and in this article in the guardian, shows the evolutions that the most deadly pandemic, the plague, has brought about. During the pandemic, people hoped for a world with less inequality. A pandemic, as we have also seen since the covid pandemic,19 is a time when society can rethink its system in a profound way, because the flaws are more apparent at that time, it is a time of hope for a better world tomorrow.

Although it took time for changes to occur, scholars have often said that medieval European society would have continued being medieval for longer had it not been for the Black Death. Also that it sowed the seeds that led to the Reformation and the Renaissance

In the last year, the covid has opened many debates on a more equal world, more concrete actions about sustainable development and global warming. We will see whether these ideas will remain hypothetical or whether real action will be taken once the health emergency is over

Alfani, G., 2015. Economic inequality in preindustrial times: Europe and beyond. [online] Aeaweb.org. Available at: <https://www.aeaweb.org/content/file?id=11151> [Accessed 4 February 2021].

Brea-Martínez, G, Pujadas-Mora J,B. 2019 Estimating long-term socioeconomic inequality in southern Europe: The Barcelona area, 1481–1880, European Review of Economic History, Volume 23, Issue 4, November 2019, Pages 397–420, Available at: <https://doi.org/10.1093/ereh/hey017>

The representations of the plague, a terrifying disease that decimated European populations until the 18th century, also struck people’s minds. This is why images of the plague, with a strong symbolic charge, are numerous in art. The plague appears as a punishment, a divine scourge. It has exacerbated the collective imagination and embodies absolute evil.

How can art be perhaps a testimony of an epoch. Art testifies to an epoch by the way it is telling a story, by the style used, the symbols hidden in the works. It makes it possible to show the reaction of Men to this complete reversal of society, to give a point of view and bear witness to an era.

We can see in an example how the plague testified to an immense fear of the population, thinking they were receiving a divine punishment.

We can focus on a painting that appeared in the 1400s by an anonymous painter. This painting was painted around 1437 according to x. This scene would take place in Siena, Italy, a city that was devastated by disease. This painting ‘the allegory of the plague’, showing a representation of black death.

In this painting, we can see directly the painter’s representation of the plague. It is represented by a faceless demon with black wings on a galloping horse. The horse is depicted in movement, which could be testifying to the speed at which the disease spreads, without limits. Notably, we can see how the demon and its horse have no boundaries, he enters the house and throws its arrows through the walls, emphasizing the strength of the contaminating force of the plague. The passage of the disease between people is symbolised by arrows, which means that the person has been infected by the disease. The painting depicts a scene of chaos where a whole population is infected with the disease, and already half of them have died from it. We understand a violent scene, which testifies the fear of the era that has faced the deadliest pandemic ever known. The divine is also represented by the character spreading the disease, it is like a divine judgement. It is a testimony of the medieval period and permits us to learn how it was like to live during the plague. 

This art tool is a testimony of an epoch and it provides contextual information to understand more deeply what was occurring at the moment, the fear and emotions felt by the populations during this crisis.