We are witnessing an unprecedented global outbreak of COVID-19, which has been devastating in its consequences. Beyond the acute health hazard, the pandemic has carried with it other threats for mankind associated with the human economy, society, culture, psychology and politics. Amidst these multifarious dimensions of the pandemic, it is high time for global solidarity to save humankind.
Human society, its ambient environment, the process of socio-economic development, and politics and power – all are drivers to establish the world order. All these parameters are intimately and integrally related. The interconnections of these three driving forces have a significant bearing on life, space and time. In parallel, the interrelationship between all these drivers is dynamic, and they are changed drastically with time and space. The statistics serve to align the thought, based on which social scientists need to understand the prevailing equation to project the unforeseen future. The trajectory of the future world helps in planning and policymaking with a scientific direction.
The practitioners of all academic disciplines under the umbrella of the social sciences need a common platform to exchange ideas that may be effective in the sustainable management of the crisis and the way forward after it is mitigated. This book provides multidisciplinary contributions for expressing the solidarity of academic knowledge to fight against this global challenge. It is crucial that there should be an on-going discussion and exchange of ideas, not only from the perspective of the current times but keeping in view the preparedness for unforeseen post-COVID crises as well.
Dr. Mukunda Mishra is the vice principal of Dr. Meghnad Saha College in West Bengal, India. The college is affiliated with the University of Gour Banga. Dr. Mishra completed his postgraduate studies in geography and environmental management at the Vidyasagar University, and holds a Ph.D. in geography from the same university. He was selected for the National Merit Scholarship by the Ministry of Human Resource Development, Government of India. His research chiefly focuses on analyzing unequal human development and creating multi-criteria predictive models. He has more than ten years of hands-on experience in dealing with development issues at the ground level in various districts of eastern India.
Dr. R.B. Singh is a former professor of geography at the Delhi School of Economics, University of Delhi; the secretary general and treasurer of the International Geographical Union (IGU); the chair of the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research (CSIR)–Central Food Technological Research Institute of the Government of India; and is a member of the International Council for Science (ICSU) and the scientific committee for Urban Health and Well-Being. He was awarded the Japan Society for the Promotion of Scientific Research Fellowship and has presented papers and chaired sessions in more than 40 countries. He has published 14 books, 35 edited research volumes, and more than 215 research papers. He has supervised 34 Ph.D. and 79 M.Phil. students. In 1988 the UNESCO/International Social Science Council awarded him research and study grants in social and human sciences.
