In 2020, in the early months of the COVID pandemic, Vivian Martin sent out an email to a select group of Grounded Theorists suggesting they get together online to discuss ways in which GTM could be used to ‘theorize the pandemic’. For various reasons this aspect stalled, although the group moved on to collaborate in several key projects including the GT Futures Conference!
The motivation to use GTM to theorize the pandemic, however, has not abated. Indeed, now that we are four years into the ‘new normal’ of living with COVID, the necessity to develop meaningful and effective perspectives on the pandemic and the post-pandemic era are more important than ever.
This session will take the form of a dialogue between Tony Bryant and Vivian Martin looking at the ways in which the pandemic can be understood using three well-established grounded theories, anticipating that this will prompt other researchers to develop GT-oriented models and theories about key aspects of living through and beyond the pandemic.