Editorial Note, May-Jun, 2021

In the lead article to this issue Swarup K. Chakrabarti, Amartya Chowdhury, Dhrubajyoti Chattopadhyay and Suranjan Das discuss the role of stigmatisation in determining the collateral fall-out of the COVID-19 pandemic. Using insights from the conceptual and empirical literature on the stigma associated with pandemics or epidemics, they trace, through the different phases of the contagion and the associated lockdowns, the role of panic and irrational belief in determining attitudes and behaviour in a socially and economically divided society such as India. In their view, a sense of social supremacy and consequent ‘othering’ are the usual appendages of stigma during a pandemic event.