Editorial Introduction: The Cases of Italy and China. Issue 1 (1st December 2021)

• Record Type: Journal Article
• Authors: Nijhuis, Harry G. J.; van der Maesen, Laurent J.G.
• Is Part Of: International journal of social quality. Volume 11:Issue 1/2(2021)
• Page Start: 1
• Page End: 4
• Publication Date: 2021-12-01
• Subjects: Social policy -- Periodicals; 361.6105
• DOI: 10.3167/IJSQ.2021.11010202
• Languages: English
• ISSNs: 1757-0352

Abstract

Abstract : The cases of Italy and China make for an interesting comparison because they represent quite different governance approaches to the pandemic. These differences may be instructive for the in-depth comprehension of the nature and the impact of government approaches to resolving crises. The two regions notably do share common histories in the spread of pandemics. The first cases of COVID-19 in Asia and Europe were registered in China in December 2019, and in Italy in January 2020, respectively. The origins and initial epidemiological dynamics of the pandemic, though, are still unclear and are the subject of scientific discussion (Dou et al. 2021 ; Nadeau et al. 2021 ). In the thirteenth century, the spread of "the plague" (Yersinia Pestis) is assumed to have spread from the Asiatic steppes to Venice, at that time a powerful city-state with intensive transcontinental commercial activity into Asia through the Silk Road (Frankopan 2016 ). It is interesting to note that the socioenvironmental and ecological dynamics of the origins and initial spread of COVID are still unknown. As stated in the Editorial of this issue, this fact reads as an argument to pay ample attention to the interferences with the sociopolitical and legal, socioeconomic and financial, and sociocultural and welfare dimensions.