Unequal Contagion: Citizenship, Democracy, and the Politics of Covid-19 in India

Author/Contributor(s):	Kruks-Wisner, Gabrielle
Publisher:	Oxford University Press
Date:	11/24/2026
Binding:	Paperback
Condition:	NEW

When COVID-19 swept through India, it collided with deep and long-standing inequalities. Unequal Contagion shows how the pandemic unfolded across an uneven social and institutional landscape, producing starkly unequal policy responses and outcomes across India. Drawing on original, interdisciplinary research, the volume's contributors trace how access to healthcare, welfare, and relief depended not only on policy design but on everyday relationships between citizens, local officials, frontline workers, and civil society organizations. Grounded in India yet widely relevant, the book reveals how inequality and citizen-state relations shape who is protected, and who is left vulnerable, during crisis.