The pandemic, health, and food from a social science perspective: Video column with Stefan Pohl Valero
Episode 11 of the CAPAZ video series on peace in times of COVID-19, presents a different perspective on the implementation of peace in Colombia during the pandemic.
Stefan Pohl Valero is a professor at Universidad del Rosario and his field of research covers health, food and medicine from a historical and social science perspective.
Access the video: Episode 11 – La paz, ahora más que nunca (in Spanish)
In this episode called, “A social studies perspective of health and food in COVID-19”, Professor Pohl provides a historical review of pandemics, specifically those caused by cholera, and analyses the possibility of taking them as a starting point to reflect on the current COVID-19 pandemic. Professor Pohl raises the question of understanding health, food and medicine from their social, economic, political, and cultural dimensions, beyond considering them as mere biological or agricultural production processes.
But, what do health and food have to do with peace? Professor Pohl argues that the basic conditions for good (public) health are the same as those that guarantee a democratic and peaceful country. Hence the importance of how health and food are conceived and understood by the State and society. Such notions undoubtedly determine the formulation and implementation of policies and the making of high-impact decisions.
Episode 11 with Professor Stefan Pohl Valero is the second-to-last in the CAPAZ web series, “Peace, now more than ever”, broadcast every Tuesday since April 2020 through CAPAZ’s digital platforms on YouTube and Instagram.
Don’t miss the closing episode of the CAPAZ web video series on peace in times of COVID-19!
(NW Text: Claudia Maya. English version: Tiziana Laudato)