Pandemic Solidarity: Mutual Aid during the Coronavirus Crisis

by Marina Sitrin (Editor), Rebecca Solnit (Editor)

What happens to society when we are not held back by the neoliberal narrative?

Genres: Nonfiction, Activism

304 pages, Hardcover

Published June 20, 2020

Reviews

[Steph · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is a great book that acknowledges how disastrous this pandemic has been for us all but urges us to keep looking ahead and striving for a better world. It also makes a distinction that while we all might be weathering the same storm (COVID-19), we are certainly not all in the same boat (class, privilege level, etc.). Because of the pandemic and how it worsened the oppressive, every-man-for-himself scenario that capitalism cultivates, the world has seen what is possibly the largest mobilization of people helping people, maybe ever in history.

Pandemic Solidarity features examples of people who never stopped coming together to help others and who collectively work to effect change in the world without taking power. There are interviews with humanitarian aid workers and people involved in solidarity networks from 18 different countries, including Turkey, Iraq, Taiwan, South Korea, India, Zimbabwe, Argentina, and Brazil. The interviewees share their firsthand experiences in creating orgs and engaging in mutual aid, many of which were started in the time of COVID-19. They talk about how their efforts have changed due to the pandemic, how they are helping others now, and how they are constantly working to cultivate solidarity and reject individualism in favor of community and self-sacrifice.

The book itself was edited by Colectiva Sembrar, which is an international group committed to amplifying the voices and efforts of those who are collectively working towards a better future by way of mutual aid, community care, and solidarity.

If you’re not already engaging in some form of mutual aid in your community, it’s never too late to start and this book might be a helpful resource. “It is a radical act to bypass the system to help your neighbor“.

[Sparrow Copeland · Rating 5 out of 5]

Incredible book, I cannot recommend it enough to literally anybody who is interested in how community can thrive during a disaster such as Covid-19. A tough recount of both colonialism and capitalism, and those who suffer the most at the hands of both. I particularly enjoy how the chapters start with an overview of the worst, and go through these lived stories with a balance of fear and hope, and how the conclusion ends with a "we have to look to the future" vibe.
Wonderful book, wonderful contributions, and society as a whole is better off having every single person read this damn book.

[Polly Stephens · Rating 3 out of 5]

This is a collection of lots of short anecdotes of mutual solidarity during the pandemic. It's a strange feeling to read a physical book about a global crisis you're still in and I definitely learnt a few new things. There were a few excerpts that were impactful but in general the whole thing felt really disjointed and directionless, which I gather is maybe the point? It delivers on what it claims to be and maybe I'm lazy in that I want books to be clearer in what their message is as I sort of finished this and was unsure as to what I was supposed to have felt or learnt.

[Ellen · Rating 3 out of 5]

I'll give this a 3 because I liked a lot of the ideas behind it, but in general it was a bit too left wing for me. I believe in mutual aid and dismantling capitalism without having to be too stereotypically PC. So I took what I could get from the initiatives presented and left the stuff that wasn't too necessary to understanding the movements.