{"id":202,"date":"2020-04-06T16:17:46","date_gmt":"2020-04-06T15:17:46","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/pgrsociology\/?p=202"},"modified":"2021-04-29T14:56:28","modified_gmt":"2021-04-29T13:56:28","slug":"why-we-should-talk-about-physical-distancing-not-social-distancing","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/pgrsociology\/2020\/04\/06\/why-we-should-talk-about-physical-distancing-not-social-distancing\/","title":{"rendered":"Why we should talk about physical distancing, not social distancing"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Dr Helen Jarvis is a Reader in Social Geography at Newcastle University and a member of Tyne and Wear Citizens (part of Citizens UK)<\/i>. Here she reflects on the importance of the language we use during the ongoing Covid-19 crisis.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Cienpies Design\/Shutterstock<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\n

We need to talk about physical distancing\u2026.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Please stop\nusing the phrase social distancing. This is my plea. As a social scientist who also\nvolunteers with Citizens UK, I am deeply uneasy about social isolation and\nsegregation outliving the Coronavirus crisis, and wish to add my voice to the growing\nchorus of those calling for a change in the language we use<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What we need\nis physical distancing and social connectedness. The words we choose to use\nmake a difference.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Since March\n2020, the UK government has been urging people to reduce their social contact.  Measures have been introduced that require all\nexcept key workers to stay home, to only go out for restricted daily exercise\nand groceries, and when out in public to stay two metres from other people at all\ntimes.  These confinement measures are spatial<\/em>, intended to reduce virus\ntransmission through physical contact. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

There is\nnothing intrinsically social, or indeed anti-social,<\/em>\nabout practising safe distancing. When we walk or cycle to school and to work, the\nHighway Code and road safety education emphasise keeping a safe distance (a\nwide berth) between pedestrians and vehicles travelling at speed. We would find\nit odd to hear that \u2018social distancing\u2019 reduces road traffic accidents, so why is\nthis language being used to enforce essential hygiene in a global pandemic?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The World\nHealth Organisation (WHO) recently acknowledged that it had made mistakes in\nthis regard, and have since changed\ntheir communications around this<\/a>.  A\nspokesperson from WHO HQ in Geneva observed that colleagues are:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cpractising physical distancing as one measure to stop\nCOVID-19 transmission:  (we) use the\nphrase physical distancing instead of social distancing to highlight that\nessential distancing to prevent the virus from transferring to one another\ndoesn\u2019t mean that socially we have to disconnect from our loved ones (and responsibilities\ntoward wider communities). We’re changing to say physical distance and that’s\non purpose because we want people to remain connected\u201d1<\/sup>.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The\nconfusing and ambiguous language of \u2018social distancing\u2019 makes the same mistake\nas the false \u2018social\u2019 signification in \u2018social contact design\u2019 – popular among civic\nleaders who have adopted principles of \u2018new urbanism\u2019 and \u2018nudge\u2019 theory.  The guiding principles of \u2018social contact\ndesign\u2019 falsely represent physical<\/em>\ncontact as social <\/em>contact \u2013 believing\nthat a sense of community can be \u2018engineered\u2019 by designing ways for residents\nto meet and interact in public space, such as the park or street. Critics observe\nthat meaningful social interactions are rarely engineered by design but instead\nreliant upon \u2018soft\u2019 relational cultures – relationship assets of shared\npurpose, mutual trust and understanding. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In recent years I have been part of Tyne and Wear Citizens (part of Citizens UK), a broad-based alliance of civic institutions working together through a mutually agreed framework of community organising to listen to our communities and agree priorities. The Citizens model of community organising, which is rooted in a relational culture of deep listening and alliance building, strengthens the relationship assets that are necessary to mend the fractured fabric of our civil society.  This contrasts with the limited extent that well-designed public spaces (although greatly missed when use is rationed) can forge mutual trust by \u2018thrown togetherness\u2019 alone. We recognise that these social characteristics of alliance building are flourishing in our member institutions in the current emergency situation. This is also evident in groups of volunteers organising mutual aid throughout the Coronavirus outbreak in the UK.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Unfortunately,\nthe more accurate term \u2018physical distancing\u2019 is not taking off. Once terms\nbecome normalised (by government and mainstream broadcasting) they are very\nhard to shift. This worries us because we have witnessed in a climate of\nausterity and post-Brexit how careless talk quite literally costs lives. That\nsocial distancing contributes to both structural and physical violence is\nevident when comparing such careless talk to rising hate crimes, the toxic\nstate of public discourse, social injustice in poverty wages, poor mental\nhealth and patterns of increasing domestic violence and misogynistic abuse.  Citizens UK recognise that community\norganising around issues of shared concern is more important than ever to\nensure we can remake civil society and build a better future, in the united way\nthat we respond to Coronavirus. This requires social connection, not\ndistancing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

From the\nbeginning of this period of unprecedented restriction to movement and effective\nhouse arrest, friends and neighbours have been acting on their impulses to help\nthose around them. This includes forming Mutual Aid Groups and swelling the\nranks of the New Volunteer Service, delivering groceries and telephoning those\nwho are sick at home or in protective isolation. In my own neighbourhood,\npeople who previously knew little about each other have been connecting\nsocially in creative ways (swapping jigsaws, stories and vital baking\ningredients) without physically being in the same space. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

In short, how we talk about distancing (physical, not social) influences the cultural context in which we navigate and negotiate our collective exit from this pandemic. For all our sakes, we must build on the common ground of mutuality and unity \u2013 rediscovering a spirit of community that respects and values all human beings.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

This blog also appears on the Citizens UK website: <\/em>https:\/\/www.citizensuk.org\/physical-distancing<\/a> <\/p>\n\n\n\n

1 <\/sup>WHO (2020) Covid-19. Available at: https:\/\/www.who.int\/docs\/default-source\/coronaviruse\/transcripts\/who-audio-emergencies-coronavirus-press-conference-full-20mar2020.pdf?sfvrsn=1eafbff_0<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Dr Helen Jarvis is a Reader in Social Geography at Newcastle University and a member of Tyne and Wear Citizens (part of Citizens UK). Here she reflects on the importance of the language we use during the ongoing Covid-19 crisis. … Continue reading →<\/span><\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":7295,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-202","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-pandemic","category-uncategorised"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/pgrsociology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/pgrsociology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/pgrsociology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/pgrsociology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/7295"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/pgrsociology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=202"}],"version-history":[{"count":4,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/pgrsociology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":207,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/pgrsociology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/202\/revisions\/207"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/pgrsociology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=202"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/pgrsociology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=202"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/blogs.ncl.ac.uk\/pgrsociology\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=202"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}