Resilience in the face of a global and systemic crisis: the case of the SARS-CoV2 coronavirus pandemic

This research project, at the crossroads of sociology, geography, and psychology, aims to study the "spatio-temporal trajectories" of people—whether sick or not—affected by the SARS-CoV2 coronavirus pandemic, as well as to revisit the notion of resilience in societies facing risk, uncertainty, and disaster. The objective will be to analyze how these individuals cope with and make sense of this historic and global event, as well as to investigate how these societies can improve their resilience in the face of this unprecedented systemic crisis, which has triggered heated scientific and political debates on all levels, including health, socio-economics, the environment, etc.

For this research on resilience, both individual and collective, I plan to examine the socio-cultural and psycho-traumatic consequences of this pandemic on younger generations, particularly students aged 18 to 25, by analyzing their "spatio-temporal trajectories" in three aspects:

1) mobility/immobility in the face of the risks associated with this crisis – leaving one's primary residence, staying there, or returning there in the short and/or long term,

2) the measures and representations of these risks, and

3) the relational problems associated with these risks.

In order to better understand the consequences of this global and systemic crisis, I therefore plan to conduct a comparative study in two countries with different cultures, namely France and Japan. This study will be based on a longitudinal field survey, through interviews with students residing in the most affected areas—Paris and Strasbourg for France, Tokyo and Sapporo for Japan—and will include follow-up to better understand the evolution of psychological trauma over time.