Stigma Mutation: Tracking Lineage, Variation and Strength in Emerging COVID-19 Stigma

In this article, I propose a novel theoretical framework for conceptualizing pandemic stigma using the metaphor of ‘mutation’. This metaphor highlights that stigma is not a static or fixed state but is enacted through processes of continuity and change. The following three orienting concepts are identified: (a) lineage (i.e. origin narratives and initial manifestations are created in relation to existing stigmas, stereotypes, and outgroups), (b) variation (i.e. stigma changes over time in response to new content and contexts), and (c) strength (i.e. stigma can be amplified or weakened through counter- or de-stigmatizing forces). I go on to use this metaphor to offer an analysis of the emergence of COVID-19 stigma. The lineage of COVID-19 stigma includes a long history of contagious disease, resonant with fears of contamination and death. Origin narratives have stigmatized Asian/Chinese groups as virus carriers, leading to socio-political manifestations of discrimination. Newer ‘risky’ groups have emerged in relation to old age, race and ethnicity, poverty, and weight, whose designation as ‘vulnerable’ simultaneously identifies them as victims in need of protection but also as a risk to the social body. Counter-stigmatizing trends are also visible. Public disclosure of having COVID-19 by high-status individuals such as the actor Tom Hanks has, in some instances, converted ‘testing positive’ into shared rather than shamed behaviour in the West. As discourses concerning risk, controllability, and blame unfold, so COVID-19 stigma will further mutate. In conclusion, the metaphor of mutation, and its three concepts of lineage, variation, and strength, offers a vocabulary through which to articulate emergent and ongoing stigma processes. Furthermore, the concept of stigma mutation identifies a clear role for social scientists and public health in terms of process engagement; to disrupt stigma, remaking it in less deadly forms or even to prevent its emergence altogether.