Pandemic Geopolitics, Scales of the Crisis and Contentious Scenarios

Abstract

This article analyzes the geopolitics of the COVID-19 pandemic from three interrelated axes that allow us to observe the responses and recompositions of power and resistances: geopolitical constraints, geopolitical representations and post-pandemic scenarios. In the first case, the antecedents and causes of the pandemic are discussed, based on different spatio-temporal dimensions, framing it within a broader civilizational crisis and ecosystem limits. In the second, a picture of spatial reorganization is drawn with geopolitical representations that highlight global chaos, the political fragility of regional blocks and the centrality acquired by state action and local initiatives with community and territorial roots. Finally, three post-pandemic contentious scenarios are drawn: that of “recovery”, based on the logic of business as usual and economic growth; that of “adaptation”, with proposals for capitalist reforms in the face of the climate emergency; and, finally, the paradigm shift towards a new ecosocial matrix, guided by anti-capitalism, and environmental and social justice.