Representing Everyday Life Using Mass Observation's Covid-19 Collections

Successful public responses to the Covid-19 pandemic hinge upon internalized group membership and
the capacity of the public to think as 'we' and not 'me.' The pandemic's potential to expose the best or
worst of group-psychology largely depends on how broadly or narrowly an ingroup is defined (Jetten et al.
2020). During the summer of 2020, Black Lives Matter (BLM) protests and data revealing
disproportionate Covid-19 mortality rates amongst black and minority ethnic people, saw 'race' placed
under the national spotlight. In June and July of 2020 (at the peak of the BLM movement) UK statistics
show a rise in hate crime by up to a third (Allen et al., 2020). This study will interrogate national feelings
of solidarity and togetherness during the 2020 pandemic through critical focus on the impact of racial
discourses upon these sensibilities. It will analyse qualitative data made available by the Mass
Observation Covid-19 Archive as well as government speeches, press releases and newspaper reporting
collected and produced over the summer of 2020. Critically examining the construction and mobilisation
of racialised identities during the pandemic, it will focus on the roles played by cultural resources and
emotion in these processes. It will ask how racial discourse has been used during the pandemic and what
effect this has had upon perceptions of togetherness and collective solidarity.