Longing for everyday life. Experiencing COVID-19 social isolation in a Latin American city

ABSTRACT

This article examines the transformations in meaning and use of public and domestic spheres in the context of the strict COVID-19 stay-at-home measures in Greater Buenos Aires. Building on a mixed-methods approach that included a survey with close to 3000 responses and 12 in-depth interviews, we explore how restrictions on the navigation of public space transformed the ways in which both the city and the private sphere were lived. We found that our subjects developed a wide array of strategies to compensate for the closure of public spaces, adapting their everyday life to the limits of their housing arrangements. They described how windows, balconies, yards, and terraces were reappropriated for political or artistic display, while bedrooms and living rooms had to be openly exhibited through videoconference calls for work and education. At the same time, these transformations aggravated pre-existing inequalities, as social isolation was experienced very differently depending on household composition, gender, social class, age, housing and urban conditions. As our subjects longed for the spaces and activities the city provides, the disappearance of public space showed precisely how important it is for lived experience and the everyday reproduction of life.

KEYWORDS:

• COVID-19 pandemic
• public space
• everyday life
• domestic sphere
• housing

Acknowledgements

The authors would like to thank the editors of this special issue, Jason Luger and Loretta Lees, and the anonymous reviewers for all their support and positive feedback.

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1 National Ministry of Health. New Coronavirus COVID-19 Daily Report, Available at: https://www.argentina.gob.ar/coronavirus/informe-diario/marzo2020.

2 By Buenos Aires Metropolitan Area we refer to the City of Buenos Aires and its 30 surrounding municipalities, a single agglomeration with approximately 15 million inhabitants as defined by INDEC, the national bureau of demography, statistics and census of Argentina.

3 The cohort of interviewees was distributed as follows: 6 men and 6 women; 8 people between 18–59 years old and 4 people aged 60 years or more; 8 respondents lived alone and the remaining with their family group; finally, half were homeowners and the other half were tenants.

4 Data from the Google Mobility Report can be found at: https://datastudio.google.com/reporting/a529e043-e2b9-4e6f-86c6-ec99a5d7b9a4/page/yY2MB

5 A Cacerolazo is a methodology of political demonstration consisting of making noise by banging pots and pans. This protest methodology became popular after the Argentine economic and social crisis of 2001-2002, and is mostly used by middle-class people.

Additional information

Funding

This work was supported by the University of Buenos Aires [UBACyT research grant 20020190200407].