'Clapping for Our Carers'? Emotion, Politics and Rituals of 'solidarity' in the UK's Lockdown.

Abstract

During the United Kingdom's (UK' first COVID-19 lockdown, the Clap for Carers ritual was framed as a national act of gratitude for healthcare workers. For ten weeks, millions clapped, banged pots and cheered from their homes - yet for many National Health Service (NHS) workers, this display of public appreciation sat uneasily with their lived realities. This article examines the Clap for Carers as a complex and contested phenomenon, drawing on mainstream and social media discourse (2020-2024) and interviews with NHS clinicians conducted during a period of historic strike action (2023-2024). It explores how the ritual, although presented as a spontaneous outpouring of solidarity, reinforced divisions between the public and healthcare workers, transforming staff into symbols rather than addressing their material needs. The study situates the Clap within the cultural and political history of the NHS, highlighting its entanglement with narratives of national identity, duty and resilience. Clinicians' testimonies reveal the emotional and ethical burdens of their role, resisting the wartime rhetoric of sacrifice and instead pointing to experiences of moral injury and systemic neglect. As the UK emerges from the pandemic, this article asks how public narratives of care, crisis and gratitude shape the realities of healthcare work - and what is at stake when symbolic gestures replace meaningful support.