The Covid-19 Reader

This reader offers some of the most important writing to date from the science of COVID-19 and what science says about its spread and social implications. The readings have been carefully selected, introduced, and interpreted for an introductory or graduate student readership by a distinguished medical sociology and political science team. While some of the early science was inaccurate, lacking sufficient data, or otherwise incomplete, the author team has selected the most important and reliable early work for teachers and students in courses on medical sociology, public health, nursing, infectious diseases, epidemiology, anthropology of medicine, sociology of health and illness, social aspects of medicine, comparative health systems, health policy and management, health behaviors, and community health. Global in scope, the book tells the story of what happened and how COVID-19 was dealt with. Much of this material is in clinical journals, normally not considered in the social sciences, which are nonetheless informative and authoritative for student and faculty readers. Their selection and interpretation for students makes this concise reader an essential teaching source about COVID-19. An accompanying online resource on the book’s Routledge web page will update and evolve by providing links to new readings as the science develops.

William C. Cockerham is Distinguished Professor of Sociology and Chair Emeritus, University of Alabama at Birmingham, and Research Scholar of Sociology, College of William & Mary, USA. He is the author of Medical Sociology, 15th ed. (Routledge, forthcoming); Sociological Theories of Health and Illness (Routledge, 2021); Sociology of Mental Disorder, 11th ed. (Routledge, 2021); Social Causes of Health and Disease, 3rd ed. (2021); Associate Editor-in-Chief, The International Encyclopedia of Public Health (2017); and Editor-in-Chief, Wiley Blackwell Encyclopedia of Health, Illness, Behavior, and Society (2014).

Geoffrey B. Cockerham, Associate Professor of Political Science at Utah Valley University, is the author of Global Governance and Public Health (2018) and Health and Globalization (2010).