Facing uncertainty: The social life of face coverings and defensive biopolitics during a pandemic

Face masks or face coverings in the time of the Covid-19 pandemic have become emblematic of the many uncertainties and questions we are facing today. Crystallising not only a cultural and political divide between those who believe in the mask's protective efficacy and those who remain suspicious, face coverings exemplify deeper frictions contained in the “culture versus science” claims around public health measures. This chapter adopts an anthropological perspective to delve into the social significance of face masks during the coronavirus pandemic. Through ethnographic accounts, we explore how everyday perspectives, practices, and social relationships are influenced and reshaped by the symbolism of face coverings, which shed light on racialised contagion and defensive biopolitics across borders. Based on 12 months of in-person and virtual fieldwork with Chinese and Filipino migrant groups living in the UK, this chapter explores face coverings as a temporally shifting metaphor for a transnational public health regime that normalises stigma and plays into the evolving politics of blame cutting across many social and political debates on care and responsibility. We conclude by reflecting on the role of anthropology in the articulation of public health decision-making across regimes, scientists, and publics.