Social, Health and Environmental Impacts of the Mandatory Lockdown in Underprivileged Neighbourhoods of Buenos Aires

SOLEDAD FERNÁNDEZ BOUZO; MELINA TOBÍAS

Covid-19 and the Sociology of Risk and Uncertainty. Studies of Social Phenomena and Social Theory Across 6 Continents

Palgrave Macmillan

Año: 2022; p. 85 - 113

Latin America is the second most urbanized region in the world. However, the cities’ development in the region was characterized by an uneven growth pattern, expressed in the increase of informal settlements with high levels of overcrowding, located mostly in degraded areas, with a strong presence of environmental and health risks.In Argentina, the highest concentration of informal settlements is found in the Buenos Aires metropolitan area, a territory that faces historical problems related to access to habitat and environmental degradation, specially for the lower income households. Within this vulnerable sector, the most affected are women, as they must assume responsibility for carrying out extra care tasks that contribute to survival. In this context of mandatory social isolation due to the advance of Covid-19, we recognized important impacts that should be perceived and addressed to avoid the deepening of social inequalities.In this article we propose to analyze some of the difficulties this isolation measure entails, from the perspective of risk sociology and the approaches of constructionist eco-feminisms. In order to do this, we systematize and analyze in depth interviews carried out with territorial referents from different informal settlements in the metropolitan area of ​​Buenos Aires. Specifically, we are interested in questioning the way in which the official "Quedate en casa [Stay at home]" discourse is feasible for social sectors that do not have guaranteed access to quality urban land, nor the basic provision of water services for sanitation. Actually, we argue that this measure, in the case of informal settlements, could deepens pre-existing socio-environmental inequalities. Likewise, we are interested in problematizing the way in which the isolation particularly affect women, who are required to carry extra care tasks that contribute to the survival of their families.