Feminist solidarity: Practices, politics, and possibilities

From the nice work to the hard work: “Troubling” community‐based CareMongering during the COVID‐19 pandemic

“…Existing research on organizing solidarity movements has acknowledged the importance of creating space for tensions, conflicts, and differences within such movements (Wickström et al., 2021). For example, Littler and Rottenberg (2021) suggest that feminist solidarity necessitates “agonistic spaces” where people can argue and learn from one another as a way of working across differences.…”

“…The concept of “troubling” care is also evident in the work of feminist organizational studies scholars, which highlights the importance of creating space for tensions, conflicts, and differences within feminist solidarity movements – movements which we suggest represent a form of caring with communities (Baxter, 2021; Jones et al., 2021; Wickström et al., 2021). Wickström et al.…”

“…Acknowledging difference in solidarity movements and when practicing care can be generative, as those involved negotiate their subjectivities in relation to one another and recognize their shared vulnerability, creating potential for major systemic change (Jones et al, 2021;Phillips & Willatt, 2019). However, by exploring non-traditional caring practices (i.e., CareMongering) in a non-traditional (i.e., digital) space (Bartos, 2018), we contribute to the growing work on organizing solidarity movements (Baxter, 2021;Jones et al, 2021;Wickström et al, 2021) by suggesting that without a common understanding of and commitment to enacting care the consequences of care may not be positive and may result in both harm and conflict. Furthermore, we add to the literature on organizing care in virtual spaces (e.g., Bakardjieva et al, 2018;Clark-Parsons, 2018;Fletcher, 2019;Nuru & Arendt, 2019), suggesting that community care mediated through a digital platform, presents unique opportunities and challenges to fostering critical community care.…”

“…Wickström et al. (2021) argue that working to connect broader social movements with everyday, embodied solidarity practices leads to questions about how alliances are formed, who is or is not included in dialog, and what transformations should be pursued. Drawing on these insights, in this paper we seek to “trouble” CareMongering as a way of reworking collective understandings of who is responsible for care and how it can be practiced and organized virtually in this (post)pandemic world.…”

“…Community care is increasingly being organized in virtual spaces and we build on existing feminist scholarship which highlights the often invisible, digital, affective, embodied, immaterial, and material experiences of those organizing such digital communities of care (e.g., Bakardjieva et al., 2018; Clark‐Parsons, 2018; Fletcher, 2019; Nuru & Arendt, 2019). By “troubling” CareMongering, we contribute to the existing work of feminist scholars who have raised questions about organizing solidarity movements (e.g., Baxter, 2021; Jones et al., 2021; Kouki & Chatzidakis, 2021; Wickström et al., 2021) and challenged how care during the pandemic has been valued in the private spaces of the home, communities, social policies, and local and global organizing (e.g., Cozza et al., 2021; Gardiner & Fulfer, 2021; Miller, 2021; Vohra & Taneja, 2021). We also explore how this (under)valuing of care contributes to individual and collective vulnerability (Cozza et al., 2021).…”