Solidarity and Volunteering in the COVID-19 Pandemic

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When a crisis like the COVID-19 pandemic strikes, society is simultaneously disorganized and reintegrated. Disorganized because crises upset the usual order of things and reintegrated because actors take on new tasks and abandon old tasks that have lost their importance in the crisis situation, and new actors emerge while others disappear, all in order to ensure functionality in the new circumstances. The COVID-19 pandemic did not diverge from this pattern. Here civil society took center stage in the task of containing the spread of the disease and softening the consequences for those affected. While the importance of the solidarity, cooperation, and coordination of civil society in stopping the spread of the disease cannot be underestimated, this entry focuses on the role of voluntary civil society in providing the social support and help that was demanded because new needs related to COVID-19 emerged and because formal welfare provisions were shut down in order to contain COVID-19.
Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationThe Wiley-Blackwell Encyclopedia of Social and Political Movements
EditorsDavid A. Snow, Donatella della Porta, Doug McAdam
Place of PublicationChichester, UK
PublisherWiley-Blackwell
Publication date2022
ISBN (Electronic)9780470674871
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2022

ID: 252468064