When This Is Over

The COVID-19 pandemic had a profound and persistent impact – a tragic loss of life, changes to established patterns of life and social inequalities laid bare. It brought out the good in many and the worst in others, and raised questions around what is truly important in our lives.

In this book, academics, activists and artists come together to remember, and to reflect on, the pandemic. What lessons should we learn? How can things be different when this is over?

Sensitive to inequalities of gender, race and class, the book highlights the experience of marginalised and minority groups, and the unjust and uneven spread of violence, deprivation and death. It combines academic analysis with personal testimonies, poetry and images from contributors including Sue Black, Led By Donkeys, Lara-Rose Iredale, Michael Rosen and Gary Younge.

This truly inclusive commemorative overview honours the experience of a global disaster lived up close, and suggests the steps needed to ensure we do better next time.

'Top 10 Books: International Women’s Day 2024' in Medium
'When this is over: reflections on an unequal pandemic; The post-pandemic world and global politics' for International Affairs  
The correct response to a disaster like Covid is to plan for the next one. I don’t see Britain doing it for The Guardian

On the blog:
'An apolitical tapestry can’t replace listening to those bereaved by COVID-19' on Transforming Society
'Did we really think we’d moved on from Covid?' on Transforming Society
When this is over, we must remember we knew the pandemic was coming on Transforming Society

“A timely meditation on crisis, response, resilience and death in the 21st century. A must-read.” Toni Haastrup, University of Stirling

"A powerful and moving cycle of reflective and analytical moments, different voices coming together to make sense, rummaging through personal archives and memory and finding anguish, despair and even hope." Yoav Galai, Royal Holloway, University of London

“Hugely illuminating and harrowing, laying bare how loss, burden, sacrifice and grief were mediated by existing systemic inequalities and discrimination.” Andreas Papamichail, Queen Mary University of London

“An insightful, multidisciplinary tribute to the UK lives disrupted and lost by the COVID-19 pandemic…. a poignant reminder of the worldwide shared collective trauma, [which will] hopefully inspire us to ensure we’re better prepared for future pandemics.” Adam Kamradt-Scott, Dr Jiang Yanyong Visiting Professor, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health

"Empathetic and urgent ... an essential resource to challenge our ambivalent return to 'normality' and the inequities and inequalities on which it is founded and conceals." Katharine Millar, London School of Economics and Political Science

Foreword - Professor Dame Sue Black, Baroness Black of Strome

‘When this is over’ - Jennifer Mustapha

Introduction: A record, an accounting and a memorial - Amy Cortvriend, Lucy Easthope, Jenny Edkins and Kandida Purnell

Part 1: In this together?

‘Home and away’ - Sue Bryant

1. Pandemic deaths and the possibility of politics - Jenny Edkins

‘May 8th, 2020’ - Marvin Thompson

2. Black, Asian and Global Majority experiences: a conversation - Safina Islam, Jo Robson, Amna Abdul-Latif, Yvonne Edouke Riley, Sandhya Sharma and Circle Steele

‘Illustrating grief: Lumière Tarot’ - Dipali Anumol

3. Bodies with COVID-19 - Kandida Purnell

‘Post-Covid thoughts’ - Michael Rosen

4. Grieving and collective loss in assisted living - Hannah Rumble and Karen West

Part 2: Policing in an emergency

‘Unlawful gathering’ - Gracie Mae Bradley

5. Protest and policing in a pandemic - Paul Famosaya

‘Dying declaration’ - Anjana Nair

6. Legal education after COVID-19 - Patricia Tuitt

‘I have a wall in front of all my windows’ - Manca Bajec

7. Border harms in pandemic - Amy Cortvriend

Part 3: Caring for the dead

‘Reckoning with grief’ - Mark Brown

8. Lessons from a mortuary - Lara-Rose Iredale

‘My impending adventure, a story for another day’ - Irene Naikaali Ssentongo

9. Funerals, cemeteries and crematoria: different community experiences - Avril Maddrell, Danielle House and Farjana Islam

Part 4: Commemorating lives lost

‘Photo story’ - Led By Donkeys

10. Walking the wall: COVID-19 and the politics of memory - Mark Honigsbaum

‘Pandemic Easter’ - Herbert Woodward Martin

11. A wall of pain and love - Fran Hall

Part 5: What comes next

‘Go ahead, tell me’ - Rita Coleman

12. Emergency planning is dead - Matthew Hogan

‘Waiting to exhale’ - Mehreen Hamdany

13. Moving on - Lucy Easthope

Afterword - Gary Younge