Department of Sociology, Kyung Hee University, 26 Kyungheedae-ro, Dongdaemun-gu, Seoul, 02447, Republic of Korea.
School of Urban and Environmental Engineering, Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST), UNIST-gil 50, Ulsan, 689-798, Republic of Korea.
Soc Sci Med. 2021 Feb;270:113673. doi: 10.1016/j.socscimed.2021.113673. Epub 2021 Jan 5.
The Korean government collects and releases sociodemographic information about people infected with COVID-19, their travel histories, and whether or not the patients wore masks. Korean mothers then upload this information on the boards of online groups called "mom cafes." Based upon a digital ethnography of 15 "mom cafes," we examine how Korean mothers understand the travel histories of virus patients and explore the relationships between morality and materiality in the context of infectious disease surveillance. The main findings reveal that mom cafe mothers form moral personhood based on information gathered about artifacts, places, and the mobility of patients. They tie patients' travel histories inextricably to moral identities. Non-maleficence is central to Korean mothers' morality. This morality appears through the material discourses of artifacts, places, and mobility. A face mask becomes one such hallmark of morality. It is a requisite for moral persons. Those who visit crowded places, such as churches, clubs, and room salons, become immoral because they can be easily infected and spread the virus to their families and communities. To mom cafe mothers, mobile patients, such as clubbers, appear less moral than those who self-quarantine due to the high infection rate of COVID-19. We conclude that morality in this context involves the materiality of artifacts, a sense of place, and the spatial mobility of people.
韩国政府收集并发布有关 COVID-19 感染者、他们的旅行史以及患者是否戴口罩等社会人口统计学信息。韩国母亲随后将这些信息上传到名为“妈妈咖啡馆”的在线群组的版块上。通过对 15 个“妈妈咖啡馆”的数字民族志研究，我们考察了韩国母亲如何理解病毒患者的旅行史，并探讨了在传染病监测背景下道德与物质性之间的关系。主要发现表明，妈妈咖啡馆的母亲们根据有关物品、地点和患者流动性的信息来形成道德人格。她们将患者的旅行史与道德身份紧密联系在一起。不伤害原则是韩国母亲道德观的核心。这种道德观通过物品、地点和流动性的物质话语显现出来。口罩成为道德的一个标志。它是道德人的必要条件。那些去教堂、俱乐部和房间沙龙等拥挤场所的人变得不道德，因为他们容易感染并将病毒传播给家人和社区。对于妈妈咖啡馆的母亲们来说，由于 COVID-19 的高感染率，像夜总会常客这样的流动患者似乎比那些因自我隔离而变得不道德的人更不道德。我们的结论是，这种情况下的道德涉及物品的物质性、场所感和人的空间流动性。
