‘Mutual aid, solidarity and commoning become most visible during periods of deep crisis. This is when the structures of the state and of capitalist markets not only fail to address the emergency situation, but they often show their complicity in making it worse. When solidarity is revealed to the majority as the practice that makes a difference, it is as if society en masse were to whisper in our ear its desire to evolve: “I want to evolve, I want to evolve, but my evolution depends on you,” says society. And again: “Make this relational care embedded in solidarity the new gravitational point around which a new world is built.”‘ – Massimo de Angelis
This month we are joined by three contributors to the new book, Pandemic Solidarity, about which the above words were written. The book brings together a collection of stories from around the world, revealing what an alternative society could look like, post-pandemic, and what skills and relationships we need in order to create that society. Discussing the book, and with particular reference to experiences in Portugal and Brazil, are:
Lais Duarte, a Ph.D candidate at the Anthropology department of CUNY, who studies solidarity networks, immigrant integration policy and decolonisation praxis. Lais also co-authored the chapter on Portugal in the book;
Marina Sitrin, Assistant Professor of Sociology at SUNY Binghamton, New York. Co-editor of Pandemic Solidarity and author or co-author of several books including Horizontalism, Everyday Revolutions and They Can’t Represent Us!;
and Vanessa Zettler, a teacher, sociologist, translator and writer living in São Paulo, where she is also an activist building community through music. Vanessa authored the book’s chapter on Brazil.
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