ENGL 103 B2: Research and the Arts of Mutual Aid

R. Jackson

The concept of mutual aid has become an important conversation in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic. From op-eds in newspapers to an outpouring of academic articles, to the daily practices of community support that are enacted across the world, mutual aid is perhaps one of the most important political and social topics to re-emerged over the last tumultuous year. In short, mutual aid is the practice of communities caring for each other when the state fails to do so. While the current conditions of our world have renewed interest in the philosophy and practice of mutual aid, it is an old idea. From the English folk-hero Robin Hood, who would famously steal from the rich to give to the poor, to the community initiatives of the Black Panther Party the Young Lords, and countless other grassroots organizations who fight systemic neglect by nurturing the capacity of communities to support each other in times of hardship, mutual aid is an old practice.

In this course, students will be introduced to the concept of mutual aid and its various practices. We will consider the relationship between mutual aid as a practice of direct community support and the immense amount of research and imagination it takes to build strong communities. We will be reading through Dean Spade’s book Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity Through this Crisis and the Next (2020) and supplementing that material with works of short fiction, poetry, visual art, and films.