Covid-19, brecha generacional y temporalidades contradictorias en la españa de la pandemia

Resumo

This paper reflects on the contradictory effects brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic in present day Spain. Considering that certain aspects of generational conflict in Spain might be explained by the late arrival of Spain to modernity. Three competing temporalities are distinguished: 1) “Natural time”: is the time as lived by people who is presently older than 60 (born before 1970). This time is defined by seasons and vital cycles. 2) “Modern time”: it is the time of those aged 30 to 59 today (born from 1970 to 1989), marked by a socialisation in the years of “desarrollarismo” and the first years of democracy. People belonging to this group grew up and were socialized as “moderns”. 3) “Postmodern time”: people born after 1990 live in a world defined by high speed, where the only constant is change. The outbreak of the pandemic might be considered a paradigmatic social problem. In the first place, pandemic has impacted among the elderly, putting a question mark over the Spanish model of social provision for the elderly. Second, among adults the pandemic has meant the imposition of remote working, which clashes with the modern conception of scheduled working hours. Last but not least, for young people the pandemic causes a break in the lives of people used to high speed living. The paper analyses the differential effect of the pandemic among the different generations and reflects on its likely long-term effects.