Description
ABSTRACT
Purpose: The aim of this paper is to provide a critical analysis of the introduced lockdown and checkpoints measures introduced in segregated neighbourhoods on the territory of Bulgaria during the first national lockdown in the period between March and May 2020.
Design/methodology/approach: The study is based on a qualitative methodology combining online ethnography with more traditional fieldwork in one segregated neighbourhood called “Stolipinovo”.
Findings: The analysis provided demonstrates how the construction of a sanitary cordon – in the name of reducing Covid-19 transmission – around segregated neighbourhoods like “Stolipinovo” not only reinforces forms of social inequality but can actually be thought of as an opportunity to create intra-collective solidarity.
Originality/value: To date, apart from a small-scale survey and abstract-level theorizing of the pandemic, no such research endeavors have been made in the country, hence the originality of the paper and its findings.
Keywords: Ethnic stigma, Pandemic, Social inequality, Urban precariat, Covid-19
