Stigma power, race and public accountability: an exploration of the hard lockdown of public housing in Melbourne

This study explores the intersection between stigma and accountability in the context of a disaster. We draw on the notion of stigma power as ingrained in sociology literature to explore the COVID-19 pandemic-related hard lockdown imposed on nine public housing towers in Melbourne, Australia, in July 2020. We investigated how stigma is implicated in the construction and operationalisation of systems of public accountability in relation to this disaster. Through a qualitative approach and data collected from secondary sources (including the Victorian Ombudsman’s report, media reports and social media posts) and 16 in-depth interviews conducted with residents, community organisers and volunteers, community outreach personnel for parliamentarians, director and operation managers of NGOs, community leaders, health care staff, and a lawyer, we showed the complexity of stigma (race, religion, poverty, etc.) which is attached to public housing estates and residents. Our findings show how stigma is drawn upon to create a stereotyping image of residents as a danger to the public who are not owed care and accountability but rather need to be controlled, isolated and made to account for themselves. The study also shows how residents demonstrate care and accountability to themselves through resistance and how resistance to stigma drives the demand for accountability. This study is original and provides new insights into the intersection between stigma and accountability particularly during crisis time.