Medium Post #2
My understanding of Cooke’s text in conjunction with Avenell’s essay has altered my view on the former reading. In my original reading of Cooke’s text, I mainly resonated with the community support that people have in crisis but Avenell’s essay has made me consider how we can approach solidarity on a societal level. A crucial point that is addressed in Cooke’s reading is information which the journalist Defoe used to impose beliefs about the plague that were accusatory and subject to labeling which is harmful since it deflects from the actual issue itself. In comparison, as highlighted by Avenell’s essay, Leftist academics used their own understanding of the issue to inform what impact different approaches would have. I believe this approach that these academics used would be important because it would create less confusion and lead to more rational courses of action. In times of crisis, knowing what to do is important because time is of the essence. Even applying this to COVID 19, it was because we had the knowledge that it was spread through the air, we learned how important it is to wear masks which resulted in less deaths.
Get Michelle Zhou’s stories in your inbox
Join Medium for free to get updates from this writer.
Similarly, by reading about what my classmates have been writing about it has informed my own perspective as I got to explore how they interpreted solidarity throughout the readings. Engaging in these texts overall has made me more aware of and sympathetic of the struggles that people in crisis face and it makes me think about how these conversations are especially needed because there are many global battles going on. It is only by being confronted by these harsh realities that we can then feel compelled to support movements that combat them and make change.
