Examining the anti-disaster volunteer discourse during the COVID-19 pandemic

  • Miyamae Ryohei
    Faculty of Urban Management, Fukuyama City University
  • Daimon Hiroaki
    Disaster Prevention Research Institute, Kyoto University Cross-border Postdoctoral Fellow, Japan Society for the Promotion of Science
  • Atsumi Tomohide
    Graduate School of Human Sciences, Osaka University

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Other Title
  • 新型コロナウイルス感染症社会における災害ボランティア排斥言説の検討
  • シンガタ コロナウイルス カンセンショウ シャカイ ニ オケル サイガイ ボランティア ハイセキ ゲンセツ ノ ケントウ

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Abstract

<p>This study aims to clarify how the sentiment toward disaster volunteers changed before and after the COVID-19 pandemic and examine the social structure underlying this change. An increase in the exclusion of social minorities was noted during the pandemic. Such exclusion occurs when the boundary between out-groups and in-groups becomes apparent. This study analysed how such exclusionary discourse changed before and after the COVID-19 pandemic. We focused on Twitter discourse toward disaster volunteers in Japan before and after the pandemic. The results showed that tweets expressing anger significantly increased during a heavy rain disaster in 2020, while those expressing anxiety increased considerably after the pandemic. The proportion of negative tweets about disaster volunteers was also found to have increased after the pandemic. Furthermore, a content analysis of the tweets suggested that the negative tweets about disaster volunteers during the pandemic were more likely to include a clear distinction between those living within or outside of the affected prefecture than between those who are infected or uninfected. This study reveals that, in the case of the COVID-19 pandemic, the exclusionary discourse toward disaster volunteers draws a clear boundary between “insider” and “outsider.”</p>

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