Mutual Aid
Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next)
by Dean Spade
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Pub Date Oct 27 2020 | Archive Date Oct 27 2020
Verso Books (US) | Verso
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Description
Around the globe, people are faced with a spiralling succession of crises, from the Covid-19 pandemic and climate change-induced fires, floods, and storms to the ongoing horrors of mass incarceration, racist policing, brutal immigration enforcement, endemic gender violence, and severe wealth inequality. As governments fail to respond to—or actively engineer—each crisis, ordinary people are finding bold and innovative ways to share resources and support the vulnerable.
Survival work, when done alongside social movement demands for transformative change, is called mutual aid.
This book is about mutual aid: why it is so important, what it looks like, and how to do it. It provides a grassroots theory of mutual aid, describes how mutual aid is a crucial part of powerful movements for social justice, and offers concrete tools for organizing, such as how to work in groups, how to foster a collective decision-making process, how to prevent and address conflict, and how to deal with burnout.
Writing for those new to activism as well as those who have been in social movements for a long time, Dean Spade draws on years of organizing to offer a radical vision of community mobilization, social transformation, compassionate activism, and solidarity.
Advance Praise
Praise for Normal Life:
"Should be read by everyone who is interested in challenging capitalism, colonialism, racism and patriarchy." — Angela Y. Davis
"An invaluable resource not just for rethinking gender justice, but for rethinking how we do social justice organizing in general." — Andrea Smith, author of Conquest: Sexual Violence and American Indian Genocide
"This original, visionary, urgent, and brilliantly argued book significantly advances political theory and social movement criticism." — Urvashi Vaid, author of Virtual Equality: The Mainstreaming of Gay & Lesbian Liberation
"Sharply political, deeply intellectual, broadly accessible, Normal Life is exactly what we need right now." — Lisa Duggan author of The Twilight of Equality?: Neoliberalism Cultural Politics and the Attack on Democracy
"This street-smart and theoretically sophisticated little book should be required reading for all would-be radicals looking for practical ways to build a better future." — Susan Stryker author of Transgender History
"Spade's book is personal, practical, and theoretical. It lays out a framework for a critical trans politics, and gives fresh analyses of immigration, legal reform, wealth distribution, and lesbian and gay politics—all buoyantly and optimistically aimed at a repaired world." — The Progressive
Available Editions
| EDITION | Other Format |
| ISBN | 9781839762123 |
| PRICE | $14.95 (USD) |
| PAGES | 128 |
Featured Reviews
Juliana B, Reviewer
Really thought-provoking and it did a fantastic job of introducing and explaining the concept of mutual aid. But I walked away with big questions. That probably wasn't the biggest issue for me. The latter half of the book focused pretty heavily on best practices for mutual aid groups and so that's probably who the book is best suited for. Though you could argue that because we should all be engaging in mutual aid, then this book is for all.
Christopher S, Librarian
A great primer of the idea of mutual aid. It's clear, concise and offers a new world for the uninitiated. As someone who has been involved in mutual aid projects for almost 25 years, I was pleased to read Dean Spade's introduction to these concepts.
Jenna L, Reviewer
Mutual Aid is a great primer on what mutual aid is, and how we can use it to achieve solidarity and justice in our communities. With the COVID-19 pandemic on everyone’s minds, mutual aid has come to the forefront of conversations, people coming together to help each other out through evictions, job losses, and more. While mutual aid has existed far longer than March, it is an especially poignant topic to discuss in the age where people are losing further hope in the government and understanding what community really looks like in the face of a pandemic.
Mutual Aid is not only a great primer on what mutual aid is and how it has historically developed in the United States, it also offers suggestions for mutual aid organizations to better organize themselves, avoid burnout, solve inner-group conflict, and more. There are discussion questions for individuals and groups to brainstorm how they react to tough situations and how to better take care of yourself in the face of capitalism to continue to help others.
The book is a quick 150 or so pages and easy to get through, with a wealth of resources in the back if you’re interested in learning more. I am especially impressed that Spade wrote this in such a short period of time, focusing in on the COVID-19 pandemic and resurgence of BLM protests—I can only assume he wrote the bulk of this in the past 6 months, which is beyond impressive. I can barely write my reviews to be long enough to be of any substance and Spade is out here writing a whole book. My hat off to you!
If you don’t read books published by Verso, now should be the time to start. They really pick the best of the best to publish and their books always leave you feeling energized and ready to revolutionize our world.
I received this book from NetGalley in exchange for my honest review.
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