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This paper evaluates the potential for mutual aid to serve as a framework for a new way of life through a biopsychosocial theoretical lens and a literature review. This paper works to help better understand how we, as a society in the United States can reimagine what a world would look like if we used mutual aid as a framework for a way of life through a public health perspective. The study draws on examples from Blue Zones and community health interventions using mutual aid in Japan, Cameroon, Latin American populations, and other communities of the world to illustrate how mutual aid can be implemented on both micro and macro levels from local community cultures to broad nation-wide policies in the US. The findings suggest that mutual aid can be utilized as a model for other facets of life and society as a whole. By encouraging people to work together and support each other, mutual aid can create more resilient and cohesive communities. These findings have important implications for public health and can help inform future research and policy interventions aimed at promoting community-building through mutual aid.

The outbreak of COVID-19 led to the emergence of various forms of mutual aid. While prior research has demonstrated that mutual aid can contribute to participants' subjective well-being, the majority of these studies are qualitative and lack clear understanding of the underlying mechanisms. Using a questionnaire survey and structural equation modeling, this study finds that mutual aid significantly enhances the subjective well-being of participants in China. Bootstrap chained mediation analysis shows that this is mainly because mutual aid not only provides material resources to participants but also helps to expand their social networks, thereby enhancing their self-esteem and self-efficacy, and ultimately improving their subjective well-being. In the chain mediation mechanism, the total effect of social network is significantly higher than that of material resources. Our study identifies social psychological mechanisms by which mutual aid acts on participant's subjective well-being, and it has important implications for community governance. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

BACKGROUND AND OBJECTIVES: Risk hedging strategies have been integral to the culture of various human societies throughout history. Up until the 14th century AD, risk coverage primarily took the form of trade unions, cooperatives, and mutual aid, with insurance not being recognized as independent transactions or contracts. The concept of insurance emerged in the early 14th century, driven by increased risks associated with economic growth and the complexities of daily life. This evolution led to the development of various insurance systems and models. The aim of this article is to analyze and compare the mutual and takaful insurance systems, both of which are based on the principle of risk sharing Basis. By identifying structural and functional differences, as well as their respective advantages and disadvantages, this study seeks to clarify the confusion surrounding the meanings and concepts of these models. METHODS: This research is of an applied nature and has been conducted using a descriptiveanalytical approach, employing library research and document analysis methods. FINDINGS: Mutual and takaful insurances are examples of insurance systems founded on the principle of risk sharing basis. The similarities among the concepts of mutuality, cooperation, and takaful have led some individuals to mistakenly believe that these two insurance systems are identical and even interchangeable. For instance, some people equate takaful insurance with mutual or cooperative insurance, arguing that the emergence of takaful is unnecessary; similarly, in various studies, mutual insurance is often regarded as equivalent to cooperative insurance. However, this research indicates that despite sharing common goals and some concepts, these models differ significantly in their operational structures and possess numerous distinct characteristics. These differences necessitate careful consideration when selecting an insurance system that aligns with the specific purposes, characteristics, and risk coverage requirements of a particular target audience. Therefore, in this research, we will first familiarize ourselves with the fundamentals and concepts of both the mutual and the takaful insurance systems. By outlining their structures, characteristics, and the operational mechanisms of these two risk-sharing models, we aim to compare and analyze them in order to clarify misconceptions that may arise from blending concepts and functions, and to identify the target audience for each model. CONCLUSION: Although there are similarities between the two insurance systems being compared, such as their goals, risk-sharing mechanisms, underwriting practices, capital profit and loss sharing, fairer premiums, transparent performance, and cost reduction, each system also has distinct differences, advantages, and disadvantages. These distinctions include restrictions on operations, types of investments, compliance with Sharia, types of coverage, and methods of risk mitigation. This indicates that despite the similarities in risk-sharing mechanisms, each insurance system caters to its own target audience. People choose the model that best suits their needs and risks based on the types of risks and the beliefs or specific advantages associated with each system. Therefore, the similarity of concepts should not lead to confusion regarding the meanings and applications of these two independent insurance systems, each of which has its own functions, structures, and characteristics. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Copyright of Electric Power Automation Equipment / Dianli Zidonghua Shebei is the property of Electric Power Automation Equipment Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Electric Power Automation Equipment / Dianli Zidonghua Shebei is the property of Electric Power Automation Equipment Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Copyright of Electric Power Automation Equipment / Dianli Zidonghua Shebei is the property of Electric Power Automation Equipment Press and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)

Agroecology, agency, and bottom-up governance are deemed essential for sustainable food security, yet alternative food initiatives face difficulties accessing decision-making spaces related to public policy and resources. During the pandemic, grassroots movements emerged in Spanish cities to tackle food insecurity through mutual aid, drawing inspiration from agroecological principles. How these initiatives engage with governmental actors and policies remains unexplored. The article uses semi-structured interviews and participant observations to examine two cases of Agroecology-oriented Food Redistribution Initiatives (AFRIs) in Seville and the Barcelona metropolitan areas. It aims to address three main research questions: 1) What kinds of actors and relations characterise the considered food initiatives? 2) How is sustainable food security understood and performed? 3) How do the initiatives relate with governmental actors and what problems emerge in this interaction? AFRIs emerge as assemblages uniting diverse social actors with a shared focus on food security, understanding it as the right to access sustainable, healthy food, intertwined with other basic needs and related social struggles. Sustainable practices are accompanied by the maintenance of conventional elements in the initiatives, which results in hybrid food networks. Relationships with local government institutions vary between the cases, revealing challenges and ambivalences regarding their role in supporting the provision of fresh and sustainable produce. While the study’s findings indicate that scaling up agroecology does not necessarily result in conventionalization and co-optation, such efforts also come with trade-offs. Despite collaborative endeavors, initiatives like the Barcelona AFRI may find themselves in a marginal role and fall short of fundamentally transforming the prevailing food aid model on a broader scale. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Time is a social construct often weaponized against marginalized people via waiting, imprisonment, and other forms of social control. In prisons, the length of one's sentence is something to be passed, overcome, or defeated. This paper seeks to understand how incarcerated women in jails—associated with awaiting sentencing or short sentences—experience time in the United States. Moreover, how do minoritized women experience and resist the time of imprisonment in such liminal spaces? I utilized participant observation, semi‐structured interviews, and visitations—in‐person and virtually—with women in a county jail. Their narratives elucidate that time was weaponized against them at three levels: (1) imprisonment itself, (2) through local and facility policies, and (3) via the manipulation of time by facility actors. Moreover, the women articulated how the weaponization of time was exacerbated for minoritized women and women who questioned their mistreatment. Finally, despite this weaponization, the women resisted the jail's temporal regime via intrapersonal tactics and interpersonal organizing. This was done in symbolic and meaningful ways tied to their intimate and embodied familiarity with jail time structures. They also resisted in substantive ways, alongside a community organization, which culminated in mutual aid programs, solidarity protests, and exposure of abuses in the jail. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In the midst of the push for dual-carbon goals, urban centers are faced with the imperative of reducing emissions and conserving energy, while rural regions are harnessing their abundant new energy resources to promote balanced urban–rural development. Photovoltaic (PV) power generation, known for its cleanliness, safety, and emission-free nature, is playing a crucial role in the evolution of Henan Province's power supply industry. This paper delves into the current state of Henan's power supply infrastructure, the trajectory of its low-carbon development, and the policies that shape the PV sector. It also examines the establishment of an urban–rural mutual aid model through the lens of alternative energy technologies. By utilizing a combination of case studies and systematic theoretical research, this paper uncovers the economic potential that remains untapped of new energy sources in rural areas and presents strategies for synergistic development in alignment with dual-carbon goals within the power supply industry. The research underscores the significance of an urban–rural mutual assistance model in achieving carbon neutrality, addressing urban–rural development gaps, fostering shared prosperity, and contributing Chinese insights to global climate governance frameworks. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In March of 2020, the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID‐19) escalated into a global health emergency. In Madrid, public institutions were overwhelmed by this crisis, and mutual aid networks were deployed in multiple neighbourhoods to assist thousands of families—approximately 15,000 households—with food and care in the absence of actions taken by the Madrid City Council. Drawing on a mixed methodology that combines discourse analysis and statistical data from social actors and multi‐level institutions, this study aims to highlight the patterns of socio‐spatial inequalities in Madrid in light of the urban impact of pandemic regulations and the role of public institutions in re‐territorialising its already existing inequalities through legal zoning. In particular, this study examines the relationship between the territorial irruption of COVID‐19‐related collective action initiatives and the re‐spatialisation of social inequalities in Madrid. In line with this objective, two additional questions are addressed. The study highlights the value of a legal geography theoretical framework in examining how law works as a political technology over territory and also shows how social organisations and networks have claimed legal regulations as bottom‐up social change processes, challenging the dynamics in the political production of law. The aim of this work is twofold: on the one hand, we wonder to what extent the solidarity networks could be related to urban territorialities and the spatialisation of social inequalities in Madrid. On the other hand, we aim to show how a legal geography perspective could be useful in examining how law is used over territory as a political technology and as a surveillance tool and, conversely, how from social movements representing social networks in pandemic, many regulations are demanded and vindicated as bottom‐up social change processes that mean a contention of former dynamics in the political production of law. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

COVID-19 made visible the care world. Care includes everything we do to sustain, preserve, and repair our world so that we may live in it as well as possible. This paper addresses carework spatially, bridging the concepts of spatial justice, participation, situated knowledge and solidarity, with the pandemic as a backdrop. Based on an action research project, this paper elaborates a conceptualisation of care, both as a practice and a process, focusing on the experience of women living in a context of housing precarity. Using mixed methods, including in-depth interviews, ethnographic work, and workshops, it aims to deepen the comprehension of socio-spatial care practices during COVID-19, focusing on the agency of poor marginalised women, providing frameworks of care within the places they inhabit, also considering the impact on the research itself. Empirically driven, this paper shows that housing precarity and housing deficits affect women more dramatically. Notably, those spatial care practices also reveal forms of mutual aid and solidarity capable of questioning - or even overcoming - obstacles created or intensified by the pandemic. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The COVID-19 pandemic brought wide-ranging, unanticipated societal changes as communities rushed to slow the spread of the novel coronavirus. In response, mutual aid groups bloomed online across the United States to fill in the gaps in social services and help local communities cope with infrastructural breakdowns. Unlike many previous disasters, the long-haul nature of COVID-19 necessitates sustained disaster relief efforts. In this paper, we conducted an interview study with online mutual aid group administrators to understand how groups facilitated disaster relief, and how disaster relief initiatives developed and maintained over the course of the first year of COVID-19. Our findings suggest that the groups were crucial sources of community-based support for immediate needs, innovated long-term solutions for chronic community issues and grew into a vehicle for justice-centered work. Our insights shed light on the strength of mutual aid as a community capacity that can support communities to collectively be more prepared for future long-haul disasters than they were with COVID-19. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

On an Antarctic research station, money is rendered useless, and essential material goods are imported from participating countries. Recognizing time as a valuable resource and acknowledging the existence of gift-giving practices, this article investigates the economic exchanges among members of an Antarctic expedition. Drawing on a 15 month ethnographic study conducted at the French Dumont d'Urville Station from November 2019 to January 2021, I analyse the gift of time and the exchange of services among the 24 members of the 70th expedition to Adélie Land, isolated for 8 months by the winter pack ice. The study presents an anthropological perspective on overwinterers, a population predominantly studied within the field of psychology, and examines the extent to which mutual aid and volunteering, which are often overlooked, shape interpersonal relationships and group dynamics. By exploring the ethnography of Antarctic time in relation to work and delineating various categories of service exchanges, we gain insights into individual motivations, causes, consequences and sanctions within the broader context of social relationships. I propose the hypothesis that the perpetual cycle of indebtedness among overwinterers plays a significant role in maintaining the smooth operation of an Antarctic station and fostering social balance within a winter crew. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Ejidos are a unique form of land ownership in Mexico based on cooperative and mutual aid, characterized by management problems. Some ejidos have given rise to social tourism enterprises (STE), which seek to respond to local needs by carrying out traditional agricultural and livestock activities complemented by tourism. This sector requires integration to compete. The cases addressed are the STEs in the ejido called El Jorullo, a tourist destination in Puerto Vallarta, Jalisco, Mexico. Therefore, this research's general aim was to analyze a proposal for a strategic management system for the STEs of ejido El Jorullo based on social capital to promote their competitiveness. The methodology is qualitative, based on social network analysis (SNA) to identify the social capital of the participants of El Jorullo and their enterprises from the perspective of the theory of organizational population ecology and subsequently, the emptying of this information to feed a technology-based management system. The results indicate the six stages of the proposed system for integrating the enterprises. This allows identifying an option for STEs to become more competitive through the integration and involvement of various stakeholders. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

A tontine is a shared fund in which surviving investors benefit financially from the deaths of other members. Since the mid-seventeenth century it has been used variously across Europe as a tool to raise state revenue, as a private investment tool, and as a method to raise capital for building projects. In nineteenth-century Ireland, the tontine developed to include a mutual aid scheme directed at the country's working classes and poor. This form of tontine existed within a wider sphere of microcredit and microfinance instruments – including loan funds, pawnbrokers and Mont de Piété banks - directed at Ireland's poorer classes. These provided services to a section of Irish society neglected by the country's banks and other financial institutions. The mutual aid tontine was therefore very much an indigenous financial instrument developed for the needs of Irish society. Like the Irish themselves it travelled. The scheme also proved to be popular in England during the nineteenth century, predominantly in areas of high Irish immigration. This article argues that this was as a direct result of the transplantation of Irish communities and support structures into England. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractBackgroundMethodsResultsConclusionsThe concurrent opioid overdose crisis and COVID-19 pandemic created a perfect storm of risk for drug overdose mortality and other negative health outcomes.This study is based on semi-structured interviews with 29 adults in New York City who were using illicit opioids (heroin, fentanyl, and prescription opioids without prescription) between April and September 2020 to gain their perspectives on navigating COVID as the pandemic was unfolding. Interviews explored both challenges posed by the pandemic and participants’ navigation of these challenges to prevent overdose, procure drugs, manage drug use, and maintain their health and safety.Participants tried to adhere to best public health policies and practices and adapted as needed to protect their own and others’ health. They procured larger amounts of drugs to reduce travel, arranged drop-offs, and adhered to social distancing mandates during transactions. Homeless participants formed supportive and protective “bubbles” with network members to ensure safety and maximize resources. Participants addressed service access challenges by stockpiling MOUD, injection equipment and naloxone and reported using drugs when protected by naloxone and someone to administer when possible.Despite the many challenges posed by COVID to people who use drugs in NYC, this research documents the ways people who use drugs drew on experiences of navigating stigma, structural violence, and social exclusion on a daily basis to enhance self-care and harm reduction practices. Powerful narratives of adaptation and resilience speak to the need to include people who use drugs in future public health and disaster planning initiatives. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article highlights the problematic issues of tactical training of law enforcement officers in today’s conditions, considers the actual problems and challenges that law enforcement officers may face during the performance of official duties and the provision of first aid in combat conditions and emergency situations. The issue of the interaction of the National Police of Ukraine with other rescue services at the scene for the effective provision of first aid was considered. It is noted that the interaction of the police and other rescue services at the scene of the event in the conditions of martial law requires a special approach and careful planning. It is necessary to ensure a clear coordination of actions, an appropriate level of protection for the personnel of the rescue services, and to take into account the peculiarities of work in the conditions of hostilities. Effective interaction between different services will minimize the consequences of emergency situations and ensure the safety of the population in the conditions of martial law. The article highlights the algorithm of actions for providing assistance to injured persons by police officers under fire, considers the key issues of training law enforcement officers to provide effective first aid in conditions of martial law or extreme situations in general. The authors of the article emphasize the importance of unified training programs for police officers in tactical medicine, which should include both theoretical knowledge and practical skills. Special attention is paid to ensuring a high level of readiness of police officers for quick and effective response to emergency situations and saving lives in the conditions of an aggravated conflict. Service situations in which police officers may find themselves are often accompanied by conflicts and their escalation, up to “fire contact” with the offender. Therefore, for the training of police officers, the section of tactical medicine is the most relevant, which teaches the basic skills of providing self- and mutual aid in combat conditions, which are primarily aimed at eliminating the preventive causes of death, taking into account the threat from combat operations or an active shooter. Unfortunately, there are infamous cases of the death of police officers while performing law enforcement tasks, which indicates the need for mandatory integration of first aid standards into their training and operations in various tactical situations. In addition, it is important to note that training police officers in tactical medicine will not only help them provide effective care to victims, but will also increase their level of safety while performing their duties. Therefore, unified training programs for police officers in tactical medicine should be an integral part of the training of law enforcement officers. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mutual aid insurance is a collective type of insurance where the policyholders share the potential losses or risks that they may face. In this paper, we establish a mathematical structure for mutual aid insurance through a three-state (good, bad and death) process, which is driven by an inhomogeneous Markov chain. The objective of maximizing an individual's lifetime utility is achieved by addressing a stochastic control problem that involves both mutual aid insurance and life insurance. We obtain the explicit expressions for optimal consumption, investment strategies, and life insurance premiums by employing the corresponding Hamilton-Jacobi-Bellman equation. In the end, we carry out a numerical analysis to show the significance of mutual aid insurance and demonstrate the optimal mutual aid insurance premium. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Recent transformations in the political economy of housing—particularly the corporatisation, concentration, and financialisation of landlording—paradoxically intensify both the atomisation of the tenant experience and the potential for organised tenants to exercise structural power. This potential collective power, however, is not self‐actualising. Building on two years of participatory action research and one year of operational data from the California‐based Tenant Power Toolkit (TPT), we attempt to address this conjunctural possibility. We conceptualise tenants as debtors and identify new solidarities emerging from a pandemic era landscape which has left many tenants, particularly Black tenants, deeply indebted to national corporate landlords. We discuss the TPT as a piece of legal mutual aid which both responds to the immediate imperatives of combatting eviction within the existing landscape, and we argue, helps provide the basis for advancing the work of tenant organising across scales and geographies. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

CarePortal allows community members to partner with the Division of Family and Child Services and make donations intended to prevent children from entering foster care or support current foster/kinship placements. This paper builds on the existing literature to estimate the average, per-child economic impact of preventing a child's entering care ($83,270.54) and the economic impact of one dollar donated to strengthen an existing foster placement ($2.20). These estimates were used to evaluate the economic impact of all CarePortal donations in Glynn County, Georgia, in FY2021, a total of $5,704,451.92, impacting 97 children and helping strengthen 19 foster/kinship homes. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

From the spring of 2020, the COVID-19 pandemic and the social distancing measures introduced created a series of social problems and needs that were partially addressed in Italy as well as in other countries by grassroots mutual aid initiatives. This article analyses these initiatives as direct social actions: actions that do not primarily focus on claiming something from the state or other power holders, but instead on directly transforming some specific aspects of society by means of the very action itself. The article addresses the impact of the temporality of emergency on solidarity politics by employing a series of qualitative interviews and choosing to place the analysis of mutual aid initiatives that developed in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic in longer pathways of engagement in direct social action. While many of these initiatives were strongly rooted in the Italian social movement and civil society landscape and the choice to engage in mutual aid activities was the result of long years of reflection and planning, the article shows how strongly the temporality of emergency affected the nature of these initiatives, their development and their outcomes, in particular with regard to the extraordinary number of people who volunteered and their relationship with politicisation processes. Through this analysis, the article aims to contribute to the understanding of a crucial form of action and the influence of exceptional contexts on collective action. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The restrictions to international travel during the COVID-19 pandemic have posed significant barriers to transnational family life. This paper focusses on the negotiation of familial obligations of over 300 young EU nationals aged 14–25 living in Britain. We examine how care practices were reconfigured within families, as forced immobility, absence and loss became part of transnational family life. Young people's agency was activated to engage in desirable circulations of care, while they also engaged in acts of citizenship locally that had a care dimension. Many young people contributed to local initiatives of caring for others, such as mutual aid initiatives and local groups extending care practices to non-familial relations. We examine thus the range of care receiving and care giving practices and resources involved, including material resources, time, affection and sharing information. These practices involved family members locally or at a distance, but also non-familial relations, to shape new constellations of care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Climate change education is infused with images of light. Scholars in the field tend to emphasize hope, sustainability, and solution. They foreground knowledgeable humans who construct better worlds and thereby bind themselves to modern understandings of human being and becoming. I draw on agential realism and object-oriented ontology to contest the metaphor of light, the focus on hope, and the modern premises they rely on—particularly in the context of massive sustainability crises such as climate change. The ethical dimension of agential realism and object-oriented ontology—their call for care and solidarity—offers an alternative to hope, one that aligns well with Kropotkin's concept of mutual aid. Instead of opening a pathway to sustainability, I understand education as a sphere of human being and becoming that should have its foundation on care and solidarity. As an alternative to the metaphor of light, I develop a metaphor for education in times of crisis: an education 'in shades of blue.' Blue is an existential color. It relates to dystopian and utopian images, to issues of power and force, and to solidarity and care. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article is devoted to the study of the role and significance of land lending as an important tool for supporting agricultural producers of the Middle Dnieper region in the second half of the 19th – early 20th century. The features of the implementation of the land lending system, its significance for agricultural producers, and the impact of this phenomenon on the development of the agricultural sector in the context of general economic trends of the second half of the 19th – early 20th century are clarified, as well as the impact of this phenomenon on the development of the agricultural sector in the context of general economic trends of the second half of the 19th – early 20th century is assessed. The mechanisms of functioning of the zemstvo lending system, its organisational and legal foundations, and the impact on the development of agricultural production and financial stability of peasant farms in the region are analyzed. Attention is paid to the organisational and legal principles of the functioning of land lending institutions, analysis of the mechanisms for providing loans, their structure, volumes, and role in stimulating agricultural production. The forms of land credit institutions are determined, the main of which were land banks and mutual aid funds. Attention is emphasized that one of the important features of the work of land credit institutions was that they worked on the principles of mutual aid and cooperation. The main directions of land lending are identified, among which, in particular, was assistance in improving the material and technical base of agricultural producers. The key directions of land activity in supporting savings and loan societies are characterized. It is proved that lending played an important role in the development of the small credit system in the Dnieper region in the second half of the 19th – early 20th centuries. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Abstract The outbreak of COVID-19 led to the emergence of various forms of mutual aid. While prior research has demonstrated that mutual aid can contribute to participants’ subjective well-being, the majority of these studies are qualitative and lack clear understanding of the underlying mechanisms. Using a questionnaire survey and structural equation modeling, this study finds that mutual aid significantly enhances the subjective well-being of participants in China. Bootstrap chained mediation analysis shows that this is mainly because mutual aid not only provides material resources to participants but also helps to expand their social networks, thereby enhancing their self-esteem and self-efficacy, and ultimately improving their subjective well-being. In the chain mediation mechanism, the total effect of social network is significantly higher than that of material resources. Our study identifies social psychological mechanisms by which mutual aid acts on participant’s subjective well-being, and it has important implications for community governance.

The Covid-19 crisis has highlighted the 'precarity' of human life in general, and particularly that of certain groups in society. It has debunked the myth of the autonomous, self-sufficient individual, and shows the extent to which we always already live 'in common', thereby also emphasizing the necessity of commons (of care, nurture, and economic resources). This research explores what role commons, as an antidote to precarity and a form of resistance against governmental precarization, can play in the current situation. We start by analyzing the relationship between precarity and commons in light of the Covid-19 crisis. On the basis of participant observation in Naples (Italy) we will describe the commoning activities during the pandemic, their governmental invisibilization, and the way in which they could be institutionally recognized as a vital action of care and solidarity, also beyond the emergency. Finally, in the last part, we draw on the work of Roberto Esposito, and his use of the terms community and immunity, arguing that precisely because of the impossibility of fully immunizing ourselves from the virus (and from each other) we have to consider ourselves as part of a community, bound not by shared properties but by a shared obligation. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The study of charity in the Russian Empire has an extensive historiography. The specifics of its implementation in various ethnic groups are often beyond the scope of the study. The purpose of this research is to identify German charitable organizations that have become the elements of the civil society that has been formed in the capital. New forms of unification of citizens and colonists became one of the manifestations of modernization, which was later adopted by other groups of metropolitan residents. The basis of this research is made up of various types of published and archival sources, some of which are being introduced into scientific circulation for the first time. German charitable organizations have existed in St. Petersburg since the 1770s. Initially, they arose at parish churches and had religious orientation. Since the 1860s, German artisans and colonists initiated creation of funeral registers, which have been widely distributed throughout Russia since the 1880s. Being independent of the state, charitable organizations and mutual aid societies became an important indicator of the modernization of Russian society in the 19th and early 20th century. The article is intended for specialists and anyone interested in the social history and history of Russian Germans.

AbstractBackgroundMethodsResultsConclusionUndergraduate students pursuing substance use recovery face multiple barriers, including widespread substance use on campus, stigma, and limited support. A small number of campuses have collegiate recovery programs to support students. Most students in recovery lack access to such programming, and little research has explored their experiences.This study, framed by the recovery capital perspective, utilized thematic analysis to illuminate students’ experiences in recovery without a collegiate recovery program on a Midwestern US campus. Seventeen students participated in semi-structured interviews. We sought to understand the barriers to recovery these students faced and how students overcame them.Barriers exemplified limited or negative recovery capital. Students described substance use and mental health challenges, being overwhelmed with responsibilities, feeling isolated, and negative twelve-step group experiences. Students gained personal recovery capital by mobilizing personal strengths, coping, and self-care strategies. To build family/social capital, they engaged various supports (e.g. mutual aid or activist groups). Community capital was limited to campus counseling services or supportive professors. Notably, not all students chose abstinence.This study augments the literature about how students in recovery overcome barriers without a collegiate recovery program. Universities should offer services to accommodate the range of recovery preferences and experiences. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Stemming from the combined philosophies of social work and professional artistic practice, this paper recounts five years of working with populations of fifth graders to craft their own original plays. Application of group development theory in our evolving theatrical process emphasizes several lessons, including utilizing a population's observed need(s) to derive socioemotional purpose; the ownership a group discovers when creating its own material; and the importance of centering what two communities have to offer each other in mutual aid. The 509 classroom at PS3 is a case study for the immense socioemotional impact artistic practice can have when student need is not neglected in favor of academic skill acquisition. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In May 2020, Minneapolis became the epicenter of a global movement challenging entrenched anti-Blackness and police violence after the murder of George Floyd, leading to demands to defund police departments and redistribute police officers' mental health-related responsibilities to social workers. These events foregrounded dialogue about anti-carceral social work, a nascent area of social work. While empirical studies related to anti-carceral social work are lacking, this study addresses the gap by focusing on an episode in the Minneapolis Sanctuary Movement, a community-led effort to shelter hundreds of unhoused residents displaced by the National Guard during mass protests in 2020. Using constructivist grounded theory, intensive interviews with 17 organizers and volunteers were conducted centered on crisis relief efforts to create a shelter in a hotel in Minneapolis and challenges that surfaced. Results led to development of a grounded theory: Supporting Unhoused Residents in Minneapolis 2020: A Complex Path of Disillusionment. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Buried Seeds: Learning From the Vibrant Resilience of Marginalized Christian Communities" by Professor Alexia Salvatierra and minister Brandon Wrencher explores Base Ecclesial Communities (BECs) and Hush Harbors as models of church and mission for US Christians, particularly young leaders of color. The authors draw inspiration from marginalized Christian communities to offer insights on community-building outside of majority white Christianity. Through themes like kinship, leader-fullness, consciousness, spirituality, and faith-full organizing, the authors provide practical recommendations for present-day US contexts, tailored for different social groups. The book may be beneficial for young Christian leaders in the US but may face resistance due to its progressive theology. [Extracted from the article]

AbstractThe Bridge Builders (BB) program is an initiative implemented by Refugee Community Partnership (RCP), an organization that centers refugees. This program matches volunteers with refugee families in reciprocal relationships, facilitating integration and social support. Sixteen volunteers participated in semi-structured interviews that elicited their views on the BB program. Volunteers valued the relationship-based model and its interrogation of power structures. They highlighted challenges in accountability and navigating boundaries with their matched families. Volunteers expressed desire for increased opportunities to connect with other volunteers and the broader RCP community. Findings show strengths and challenges of relationship-based approaches in refugee resettlement and integration. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This study examines how asymmetric job conditions deplete the psychological resources of the ECE workforce in a lower-middle-income country (LMIC). Specifically, this preliminary study, using data from preschool teaching staff, examined the influence of (a) job demands (emotional demand, workload, role conflict and work-family conflict) on psychological burnout (emotional exhaustion), and (b) the offsetting effect of occupational resources (social support and job autonomy) in the job demands – emotional exhaustion relations. SEM analyses revealed that high stressors (i.e. job demands) were related with high levels of emotional exhaustion, while social support and job autonomy served as significant buffers in the stressors – emotional exhaustion positive link. These outcomes serve as preliminary evidence for ECE job re-design and burnout management programs by strategically allocating school-level resources in LMICs. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Science is not value-free. Piotr Kropotkin was a renowned naturalist and became the most widely read anarchist of the 20th century. My aim in this essay is to analyze his evolutionary thought as presented in his main work Mutual Aid: A Factor of Evolution (1902). I outline the central theses of Kropotkin's evolutionary theory, placing them in their context and examining them in light of current knowledge. Kropotkin argued that (1) species are not fixed, that is, they change over time; (2) this change does not follow a divine plan; (3) species share a common ancestor; (4) the environment produces and selects advantageous traits in organisms; (5) the "struggle for life" is more beneficial when organisms associate rather than compete; and (6) the advantages of association (mutual aid) give it a progressive role in evolution, providing the basis for ethics and for anarchist communism. The cooperative and progressive nature of Kropotkin's theory offers an excellent model for addressing the role of values in science. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

We present the Shareish web platform to foster diverse solidarity practices inspired by concepts of the gift economy. Its design is grounded in prior work (in CSCW and solidarity HCI), and in new qualitative research involving participants engaged in solidarity practices. Shareish aims at leveraging community assets through donations, free loans, requests of goods and services, free event announcements, and by enhancing the visibility of freely available resources. On a Shareish instance, users have the ability to view localized items on a map or in lists, utilize search filters, contribute new content with detailed textual and visual descriptions, engage in discussions with other users, and receive notifications when new content is added in their neighborhood. The platform can be replicated and improved by communities seeking autonomy as its source code is distributed freely under a permissive open source license (https://github.com/shareish). A research demonstration server is available (https://shareish.org). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Solar Politics" by Oxana Timofeeva explores the concept of solarity as a way to rethink value in relation to the economy, environment, and human nature. The book argues against both the fear of the sun's excessive light and the attempt to dominate nature, proposing a politics centered around otherness, solidarity, and cooperation. Timofeeva draws on the ideas of Georges Bataille to construct a solar economy that celebrates excess and rejects the violence of capital. The book also discusses the potential application of solar politics in addressing global crises and the need for a clearer vision of the political form that would emerge from these principles. [Extracted from the article]

Systematic management of corporate safety risks in industrial parks has become a hot topic. And risk prevention and control mutual aid is a brand-new model in the risk and emergency management of the park. In the context of blockchain, how to incentivize enterprises to actively invest in safety risk prevention and control mutual aid has become a series of key issues facing government regulators. This paper innovatively combines Prospect Theory, Mental Accounting, and Evolutionary Game Theory to create a hypothetical model of limited rationality for the behavior of key stakeholders (core enterprises, supporting enterprises, and government regulatory departments) in mutual aid for safety risk prevention and control. Under the static prize punishment mechanism and dynamic punishment mechanism, the evolutionary stabilization strategy of stakeholders was analyzed, and numerical simulation analysis was performed through examples. The results show: (1) Mutual aid for risk prevention and control among park enterprises is influenced by various factors, including external and subjective elements, and evolves through complex evolutionary paths (e.g., reference points, value perception). (2) Government departments are increasingly implementing dynamic reward and punishment measures to address the shortcomings of static mechanisms. Government departments should dynamically adjust reward and punishment strategies, determine clearly the highest standards for rewards and punishments, and the combination of various incentives and penalties can significantly improve the effectiveness of investment decisions in mutual aid for safety risk prevention and control. (3) Continuously optimizing the design of reward and punishment mechanisms, integrating blockchain technology with management strategies to motivate enterprise participation, and leveraging participant feedback are strategies and recommendations that provide new insights for promoting active enterprise investment in mutual aid for safety risk prevention and control. The marginal contribution of this paper is to reveal the evolutionary pattern of mutual safety risk prevention and control behaviors of enterprises in chemical parks in the context of blockchain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Although in theory social justice is considered as a core dimension of agroecological transitions, alternative food initiatives related to agroecology have been criticised for their exclusionary practices based on important social and economic biases. In this article, we adopt the lens of political intersectionality to study two cases of Agroecology-oriented Food Redistribution Coalitions in Spain that emerged to address the rising levels of food insecurity during the COVID-19 pandemic. We find that the coalitions represent a convergence of diverse social struggles, placing intersectionally marginalized groups at the centre of their activism. However, we also uncover that coalition members participate in different ways depending on their socioeconomic profiles, which could perpetuate inequalities in organizational practices. One major point of tension is the need to balance the goal of providing access to healthy and sustainable food with the affordability of such produce. This leads to the adoption of hybrid food networks that include conventionally produced food. We also highlight that while the predominance of women in these coalitions reflects the unequal distribution of food-related care work in society, the collectivization of such work through AFRCs practices points to a transformation of gender relations. Territorialized alliances between actors from urban and rural settings and between urban centers and peripheries are established through the coalitions. However, such networks fall short on involving large numbers of agroecology-oriented initiatives and providing direct encounters between consumers and producers. Overall, the article underscores the importance of addressing intersecting inequalities within alternative food initiatives and argues that intersectional coalitions offer an intriguing example of how to promote such understanding and pave the way towards (more) just agroecological transitions. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Purpose: This paper aims to illuminate the nuanced dynamics of green supply chain management (GSCM), specifically focusing on the intersections of supplier relationships, supplier governance and organizational agility. Recognizing a gap in the understanding of how these elements confluence to promote green purchasing, the paper uses a quantitative study on data collected from the Australian food industry. Advanced analysis techniques provide empirical evidence underscoring the pivotal roles these elements play, expanding on current GSCM literature within a resource-based view. Design/methodology/approach: This study, based on a questionnaire sent to Australian food professionals, used higher-order reflective constructs to assess supplier relationships and governance. Data was analyzed using partial least squares structural equation modeling and Hayes PROCESS, considering factors like firm revenue and manager experience. Both the reliability of measures and mediation hypotheses were stringently validated using established guidelines. Findings: The comprehensive study validated supplier governance's key influence on green purchasing and supplier relationships. Notably, organizational agility emerged as a crucial mediator, underscoring the interplay of these constructs. Concurrently, the reflective measurement model exhibited robust validity and reliability. Interestingly, demographic factors such as company size, revenue and managerial experience showed no discernible impact on green purchasing practices. Practical implications: In the Australian food sector, supplier governance and relationships are pivotal for advancing green purchasing. This study emphasizes the value of organizational agility in amplifying these practices. Managers, when aligning with supplier relationships enhanced by communication and mutual aid, can foster robust green initiatives. Embracing these insights and the critical importance of supplier governance, managers can drive more sustainable, informed supply chain decisions in the industry. Originality/value: In pursuit of understanding the relationship between supplier governance, supplier relationships and green purchasing, this research uniquely situates itself within the resource-based view (RBV) to reveal critical theoretical and practical implications. By focusing on the Australian food industry, the study spotlights the often-overlooked mediating role of organizational agility in linking supplier relationships with green purchasing efforts. In doing so, this research not only strengthens the argument for fortified supplier relationships – as a catalyst for enhancing agility and thereby green practices – but also re-contextualizes the RBV in a fresh light. This new perspective provides managers with an enriched model, emphasizing the imperative of solid supplier governance for sustainable, agile and green supply chain operations in the food domain. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractHousing cooperatives are being reconsidered in many countries worldwide as potentially relevant actors in the provision of affordable housing. This is also the case in Latin America, characterised by neo-liberal housing policies that have led to an increasing financialization of housing and marginalisation of the poor. Uruguay is an exception, with housing cooperatives playing a key role in the provision of affordable housing. For over two decades its Federation of Mutual Aid Housing Cooperatives (FUCVAM) has been advocating and actively supporting the establishment of cooperative housing in the region. In this paper, we examine the opportunities and challenges of housing cooperatives to penetrate in Colombia and El Salvador’s housing systems, two countries historically characterised by neo-liberal housing regimes. Based on empirical research in Uruguay, Colombia, and El Salvador, we will analyse the socioeconomic, political, and institutional factors that enable or constrain the emergence of housing cooperatives and their sustainability over time. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

AbstractThis study explores well-being strategies and challenges for Black LGBTQ individuals in Montreal, Canada. Semi-structured interviews were conducted between March and May 2023 with key informants, or advocates and service providers for LGBTQ communities in the Montreal metropolitan area. Thematic analysis was used and involved transcription, memo-writing and a multi-step, inductive coding process using MAXQDA. The findings highlight three areas of well-noted challenges for Black LGBTQ individuals: systemic barriers; lack of targeted support; and challenges to accessing services. Two strategic domains emerged as innovative approaches to support well-being: transcendental practices and intersectional sociopolitical awareness raising. Transcendental practices, ranging from fine arts and dance to reiki energy healing, offered avenues for healing and community-building. Intersectional sociopolitical awareness was described as crucial in informing and contributing to existing efforts to improve well-being such as therapeutic engagement with clients and facilitating mutual aid. The identified transcendental practices and political awareness offer promising avenues for holistic well-being and comprehensive approaches to challenges such as inequitable HIV burden. Recognising the convergence of identities and social power axes can inform future interventions to foster more inclusive and empowering health strategies for Black LGBTQ communities. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Mutual aid, a framework rooted in crip queer and trans, Black, indigenous, and people of color care practices, has increasingly been taken up through mainstream visibility and parlance. Dean Spade (2020) articulates that while aiming to meet survival needs, mutual aid does further politico-therapeutic work: it builds shared understandings as to why we do not have what we need, mobilizes people to expand solidarity and build movements, and engages communities in participatory problem solving through collective action. How is the project of graphic medicine entangled with mutual aid outcomes and sensibilities? How might a mutual aid framework crip graphic medicine? Elaborating genealogies of mutual aid in disability justice work and crip survival tactics brings into relief graphic medicine's entanglements with mutual aid. The article first explores graphic medicine storytelling as grounded in shared genealogies of crip care. It then takes up Félix Guattari's concept and practice of transversality to diagnose politico-therapeutic potentialities of graphic medicine. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This article documents the impact of mutual aid, considering not just the food, resources and information that have been shared within and across communities since the onset of the COVID‐19 pandemic in New York City, but the ways in which these efforts are part of an abolitionist framework that precedes and transcends this context, aiming to transform relationships, build community and create alternative structures with justice and dignity at the centre. We centre our analysis in La Morada's mutual aid kitchen in The South Bronx, drawing from our personal experiences working there and our collaboration with La Morada from 2020–2022. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Rural livelihoods worldwide are being transformed by the increasing financialization of agricultural production. Microlending and the deeper integration of production cycles in commodity markets are clearly at the vanguard of these transformations, but insurance and similar financial products have become a new frontier. Here, we explore index-based livestock insurance in Mongolia, where even in the face of disaster and worsening climatic conditions, herders have expressed limited interest in, and some outright rejection of, index insurance. Using a decade of ethnographic research, we explore herder perceptions of index insurance, its effects, and the contrast with local moral economies of mutual aid. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

"Kids on the Street: Queer Kinship and Religion in San Francisco's Tenderloin" by Joseph Plaster explores the history of marginalized queer, racialized, and gender-nonnormative residents in San Francisco's Tenderloin District. Plaster delves into the informal networks of mutual aid, street families, street churches, and storytelling that sustained these communities, highlighting their resilience in the face of systemic challenges. While the work is praised for its innovative methodology and insightful analysis, some critics note the lack of specificity regarding trans feminine individuals and racial identities, suggesting areas for improvement in future research. [Extracted from the article]

The document "Brief Notices: New and Upcoming Titles of Interest to Social Work and Social Welfare Scholars" provides a list of recent and forthcoming books on various social issues. These titles cover topics such as immigrant rights, postpartum depression, gun violence, racial inequality, and more. The books are published by reputable academic presses and offer valuable insights for scholars and researchers in the field of social work and social welfare. [Extracted from the article]