2019-20 coronavirus outbreak

Linguistics

Philosophy

Public relations

Government (linguistics)

Virology

Risk society

Severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2)

Outbreak

Business

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)

Corporate governance

Environmental ethics

Politics

Political science

Infectious disease (medical specialty)

Sociology

Risk management

Risk governance

Medicine

Finance

Pandemic

Governmentality

Disease

Pathology

Social science

Journal of Risk Research

At the end of March 2020, international media present Swedish management of the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic as soft and irresponsible. Thus, Sweden, which is usually regarded as exceptionally risk averse and cautious, has chosen an unexpected risk management approach. The aim of this article is to reflect on how the Swedish government has managed the Covid-19 pandemic until early April 2020 from two theoretical perspectives, the risk society thesis and governmentality theory. We make a brief review of how previous pandemics have been managed compared to Covid-19 and try to understand the consequences of the Swedish handling of present pandemic with a particular focus on the governance of the pandemic and the exercise of power rather than definite risk management strategies during the pandemic.

Managing the Covid-19 pandemic through individual responsibility: the consequences of a world risk society and enhanced ethopolitics