Uncertainty and fear

emotions and imagined futures in times of pandemic

Abstract

The aim of this text is to propose a reflection on uncertainty, a contemporary social issue that acquired a sense of urgency in the context of the covid-19 pandemic, tracing a dialogue between fields of recent conformation of Latin American social sciences: the anthropology of emotions and the future as a research topic. First, we introduce the semantic field of this notion from a dictionary definition, where the link between uncertainty and fear emerges, projected from the classic body/mind dualism. Far from being a question of rationality, the lack of security is placed in perspective as an instrument of governmentality on a global scale. Secondly, we refer to empirical studies that address experiences of alteration of time frames and senses of the passage of time produced by crisis situations from a subjective and biographical point of view. Finally, we introduce an exploratory exercise of digital research in social networks, which allowed us to identify the prevalence of the "economic field" and the "psi field" in the diagnosis of the current crisis and in the offer of responses. We conclude by systematizing some reflections on the role of emotions in the ways of imagining and forging futures, pointing out possible avenues of research.