Abstract

The purpose of this article is to characterize the community care actions that have been part of the coping strategies adopted during the SARS-CoV-2 pandemic in the Independencia commune in Santiago, Chile. Despite the fact that the organized community mobilized resources and worked tirelessly to sustain life from the very beginning of the pandemic, the authorities have insisted on blaming the population for the spread of the virus, pointing to an alleged neglect of care. As part of a qualitative case study, intended to characterize community response to the pandemic, twelve semi-structured interviews were held with members of different social organizations in Independencia, along with a number of ethnographic visits. The analysis characterizes the territory, and addresses the social consequences left by the pandemic, the community actions taken in this context, and the community’s assessment of these. The results allow us to sustain that organizational logics have changed in Independencia since the so-called Chilean Estallido Social or Social Outburst which took place in October 2019, and, in this context of socio-political crisis and deficient state response, the health emergency is being dealt with by means of community care actions. We conclude that people respond to the consequences of the pandemic collectively, through actions intended to sustain life, and to constitute a political praxis derived from the revitalization of the community fabric as a result of the social outbreak. The originality and contribution of this article is that it addresses an experience that encourages reflection on the importance of care in sustaining a community. It points to an anthropology of community care that promotes and disseminates the possibilities of a caring social life, understanding that we exist in a world that requires extensive reparations.