Soon after COVID-19 hit the United States, the homemade face mask emerged as a powerful symbol of Americans’ common purpose in beating the pandemic. Its makeshift manufacture in homes across the country illustrated the voluntarist upsurge meeting the crisis. Yet the DIY face mask’s status as a symbol of nationwide mobilization ultimately became an emblem of national disunity. After all, the very need for wide-scale private production and distribution of such an obvious public good…

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