Delivered by Intellect to: Guest (guest) IP: 107.23.28.45 On: Sat, 06 May 2023 01:43:47 IJIA 12 (2) pp. 275–285 Intellect Limited 2023 International Journal of Islamic Architecture Volume 12 Number 2 www.intellectbooks.com 275 EDITORIAL HALA AUJI Virginia Commonwealth University Rupture and Response: Addressing Disaster, Conflict, and Change If there is a lesson to be learned from the recent (and ongoing at the time of writing) global spread of COVID-19, it is that the nature and severity of the resultant rupture and the subsequent responses to the unmitigated catastro- phes caused by the pandemic vary widely across contexts, classes, and geog- raphies. This is a lesson that goes beyond case studies of how unprepared governments, institutions, and societies were for a sudden international health crisis. More specifically, despite the global nature of the pandemic, its impact, duration, and severity were not felt equally, nor in the same manner across all nations and social groups. Rather, instead of ‘bringing the world together’, as has often been suggested, responses to the pandemic have revealed how deeply fragmented our societies are. Present-day calamities and their resultant ruptures make evident the troublingly inequitable lived realities of the current neoliberal world system. From resurgences of white nationalism that began with the migrant crises in the 2010s to uneven vaccine distribution, ruptures reflect the gaps and disparities in thought and social structures caused by shifting responses to economic, cultural, and demographic matters. 1 The theme for this special issue of the International Journal of Islamic Architecture was inspired by the early months of the pandemic in 2020, when it was just beginning to disrupt and fracture lives, systems, economies, social fabrics, and many other facets of daily life around the globe. 2 From the outset of the process of organizing this issue, the operational understanding of rupture has been a moment of crisis during a state of emergency that reveals pre-existing systemic inequalities. We sought contributions that investigate © 2023 Intellect Ltd Editorial. English language. https://doi.org/10.1386/ijia_00113_2