"We're All We Have": Envisioning the Future of Mutual Aid from Queer and Trans Perspectives

Abstract

Mutual aid has prevailed for as long as humans have existed. However, the concept of mutual aid became popularized in 2020 as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic, the racial uprisings in response to the continued police brutality toward Black people, and an increase in global climate crises. Mutual aid spread as a way of survival and collective care when formal systems, such as federal and local governments within the U.S., were failing to meet people's needs. Using a subset of data from semi-structured interviews, the current study relied on a desire-based research framework and foresight lens to capture the perspectives of queer and trans individuals (n=10) and how they envision mutual aid in the future. Findings show how queer and trans participants of mutual aid envision the structure of the future of mutual aid and the need for a system overhaul to world build. Implications for social work practice and education will be discussed.