Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During this Crisis (and the Next)
by Dean Spade
Mutual aid is a term that has become so prevalent it’s sometimes hard to remember its meaning, let alone the work that goes into sustaining its practices. For those interested in the praxis (theory and practice) of mutual aid, there’s no better introduction and guide than Dean Spade’s Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During this Crisis (and the Next), published by Verso Books in 2020.
A book that can fit in your pocket, Spade’s Mutual Aid, is clear and concise, inspiring and actionable, perfect for everything from organizing neighborhood mutual aid networks to simply being in good relation with others under racial capitalism and settler colonialism. Spade defines mutual aid as “a collective coordination to meet each other’s needs, usually from an awareness that the systems we have in place are not going to meet them,” before breaking it down into 3 key elements—survival, solidarity, and action. Distinguishing it from hands-off charity is important, and Spade also goes beyond guiding principles, providing easy-to-follow workbook-like steps for creating group culture, practicing collective decision making, confronting conflict and burnout, embracing joy, and much more.
In Chicago, we can see Spade’s Mutual Aid in practice in many groups and organizations but perhaps most notably in neighborhood mutual aid projects that enable community-based solidarity and mutual aid practices and projects, including free food and clothing distribution, asylum seeker support, community circles and orientations, winter warming stations, political education, and much more. Whether you’re interested in learning about mutual aid or coming together to start a network in your community, there’s no better companion than Spade’s Mutual Aid to help you get started and to take action. Dean makes the stakes crystal clear: mutual aid, beyond being survival work, is “the world we are fighting for … the world we can win.” Let’s fight and win together.
To find a mutual aid network in your neighborhood and for information on how to access Dean Spade’s Mutual Aid, please visit the link in the bio.
—Josh (@_jshhnn), Librarian
Links: Buy the book from the publisherOpen access via the Anarchist Library Check it out from the Chicago Public LibraryDownload a study guideDownload a TEACHING guideMore FROM DEAN SPADEEdgewater Mutual Aid NetworkEssential Guide to Mutual Aid Groups in Chicago
