The Reconfiguration of Stigma: (Mis)understanding the COVID-19 Infection and Contagion in Rural Central China

Based on an ethnography of a Chinese village, this article examines the re-stigmatization of recovered COVID-19 patients in China's COVID-19 response between 2020 and 2022. I show that distrust in the local government was reactivated in epidemic governance and led to the production of localized knowledge as a proactive response to official knowledge, which prompted stigma driven by health concerns. As the epidemic governance intensified alongside viral mutations, the stigma was reconfigured into a broader threat to livelihoods. This research indicates stigmatization is a complex and nuanced process shaped by the interplay between epidemic governance and local social dynamics.