Lesson 5.2: Care and resistance
In this topic, you will explore how care and mutual aid function as crucial infrastructures of resistance against ‘anti-gender’ mobilisation. Care is more than emotional support: it sustains movements, mitigates burnout, strengthens collective resilience, and challenges the hierarchies on which anti-gender attacks depend.
5. Self-care as collective strategy
Across all RESIST case studies,
activists stressed that self-care is necessary for collective survival.
Burnout, trauma, and chronic stress threaten both individuals and movements. Examples include:
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rotating responsibilities
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taking strategic breaks
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setting boundaries
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prioritising paid work or stability
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pausing activism temporarily without guilt
For some activists in exile from Belarus or Turkey, self-care may require retreating from activism altogether in order to regain stability. These acts are strategies for sustainability.
Reflective pauseWhich forms of care are most sustainable in your own community or political context? What might intersectional care look like in practice? |