4. A Conversation with Dean Spade

The Mutual Aid Podcast

This week we talked with Dean Spade, author of Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity in this Crisis (and the Next).

Dean Spade has been working to build queer and trans liberation based in racial and economic justice for the past 25 years. He’s the author of Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics, and the Limits of Law, and Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next) the director of the documentary “Pinkwashing Exposed: Seattle Fights Back!.” His next book, Love in a Fucked Up World: How to Build Relationships, Hook Up and Raise Hell Together, is forthcoming from Algonquin Press in January, 2025.

In this expansive conversation, we start with Dean’s definition of mutual aid and how mutual aid differs from charity before we jump into the problem of criteria. Dean shares why he wrote Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next), how it was received, and what he has learned since writing the book. Throughout the conversation, we explore the many ways mutual aid is manifested. Whether through food, housing, babysitting, or post-death care, we land on how mutual aid projects contain the things that sustain and care for life. We also discuss how mutual aid is inherently political and reflects one’s political beliefs. And how engaging with mutual aid can help us deepen our political education and understanding of the world around us. We end the conversation by exploring the role of relationship building and the interpersonal and intrapersonal dynamics that make or break our groups.

Books By Dean:

⁠Love in a Fucked Up World: How to Build Relationships, Hook Up and Raise Hell Together

Mutual Aid: Building Solidarity During This Crisis (and the Next)⁠

⁠Normal Life: Administrative Violence, Critical Trans Politics, and the Limits of Law

References:

Dean’s website: https://www.deanspade.net/

Big Door Brigade: https://bigdoorbrigade.com/

Credits: Hosts: israa' and Ayman Artwork: Hisham Rifai Music: Beit Youssef and Ramsey Khudairi

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