q: what is mutual aid in anarchism?
a: this is like asking what anarchism is…if you ask ten anarchists, you’ll get twelve answers. if you ask ten gay anarchists, the answers will probably be infinite. therefore…have a bulleted list ;)
mutual aid is an intrinsic impulse and desire to provide care to other living beings and the world. it can be a product of neurodivergent hyperempathy, queer universal love, a trauma history that makes one sensitive to human suffering, or a thousand other reasons…but whether it’s about marginalization or simply feeling drawn to networks of care, mutual aid starts with impulse.
mutual aid is the practice of directly supporting others in material ways (food, shelter, healthcare, etc) and less material ways like peer support. it isn’t about a specific resource, although historically in queer communities it’s been about survival needs like food and housing. it’s a way of relating
mutual aid can be rooted in alternative economies such as barter systems, gift economies, library socialism, and the Zapatista idea of cambalache (that is, a barter system without cash values and with the goal of building interpersonal relationships). there are endless ways to practice it, ranging from informal exchanges of care with friends to the regional cambalache threads that are popular in many cities with significant anarchist scenes.
mutual aid is conflictual with capitalism—which some forms of mutual aid (crowdfunding mostly) engage with capitalism, most of it is about finding ways to get one’s needs met otherwise. rather than paying for food, one can link up with an anarchist friend who grows or forages it. rather than paying extractively for housing, one can start a coop with their network of care (syndicalist projects are mutual aid too!). rather than relying on a pathologizing diagnosis to access therapy, one can use peer support and socialized models of mental health to care for themself and others.
mutual aid is conflictual with the nonprofit industrial complex. while there are plenty of state-sanctioned resource options out there, they tend to gatekeep—for example, food pantries are notorious for turning people away based on income, even if a high rent or expensive medical care means that despite their income they cannot pay for food. there’s also often not a relational aspect or building of trust. meanwhile, anarchist approaches to feeding people—communuity gardens, Food Not Bombs, skillshares on food access, and the like—are not only open to all but build relationality and interdependence. a nonprofit cares for its community, sure, but it may never actually build community.
mutual aid is conflictual with governments. often people facing state repression—incarcerated folx, undocumented folx, trans kids, queer and femme people who need abortions—cannot access governmental support, even in a society that claims to have some degree of a social safety net. mutual aid means jail support, support around immigration, legal support. mutual aid means housing trans youth facing repression in red states (allegedly). mutual aid means helping your friends travel for abortion care when they need. mutual aid is a commitment to prioritize our comrades over statism and legality.
mutual aid is gay. while, yas, it was coined by Kropotkin (notable homophobic jerk), it’s practiced in almost every queer space, from peer support to harm reduction to the simple act of being there for one another in a homophobic society. at the end of the day, mutual aid is a fancy word for basic decency and care.