Covid-19 and Communities

Join leading academics from Leeds for a series of live and interactive sessions on YouTube to discuss society’s response to Covid-19 and what recovery might look like.

This live session asks if, how and whether ‘mutual aid’ should be a feature of everyday community life.

The Covid-19 pandemic exacerbated all kinds of social inequalities and vulnerabilities.

At the same time, it unleashed a broad spectrum of social solidarity, including a blooming of mutual aid groups and networks at local neighbourhood scales, supporting those who were shielding or self-isolating. Some of these emerged out of existing civic groups and movements, others were spontaneous.

In this presentation, we will explore what kind of solidarities these represented and how they overlaid the intensified divisions and absences that abound in contemporary societies. We ask if, how and whether ‘mutual aid’ should be a feature of everyday community life.

Presenters: Dr Andrew Wallace, University Academic Fellow in the School of Sociology and Social Policy, and Dr Tom Campbell, Associate Professor in Social Theory

Find out more about this session and how to tune in