What is the Relationship between COVID-19 and the Movement to ‘Defund the Police’?

Abstract

This chapter argues that the profound instability and disruption that has been brought about because of the COVID-19 pandemic has established conditions for the ‘defund the police’ idea to shift from the margins of political debate into the mainstream. It elaborates how George Floyd's murder became a unique catalyst that facilitated diffusion of the ‘defund’ idea across cities in the United States and across the world. It also looks at social forces that seized the opportunity to make demands that would have fallen on deaf ears in the absence of the disruptive effects of COVID-19. The chapter explores the relationship between fundamental causes and contingent factors in the case of COVID-19 and the George Floyd killing to better understand the dynamics of policy change. It cites examples of disruptions associated with COVID-19.