Abstract

From a relational perspective of the community, we explore the relationships that allowed sustaining life in spaces of proximity during the Covid-19 pandemic in Chile. From a qualitative methodology and the study of cases, one in Concepción and the other in Talca, it is observed that in the face of the rupture of daily life, community relationships are reconfigured to adapt to the new scenario. This plasticity allows them to adapt their production of relational goods to meet needs arising in the crisis and, thus, their action replaces and/or complements state and mercantile actions that diminish their protagonism. Finally, these multiple relationships and the goods they produce can be understood as a social sphere with its own meaning: the community. This plays a central role in the satisfaction of individual and collective needs and the reproduction of life, particularly in contexts of crisis.