Links: Nora Samaran's new post
Dec. 5th, 2025 09:12 pmIn healthy human community, the kind that so many people say they want, and the kind study after study suggests people living in Western countries feel is missing in their lives, human beings are often in community with people with whom we aren’t individually or personally close, but who nonetheless form part of the larger circle of human bonds that forms the anchor and soilbed of our belonging.
I'm not sure I had read her prior post from 2021, Coercive Persuasion and the Alignment of the Everyday. In it she mentions "How We Show Up" by Mia Birdsong, which I got from the library. I loved the book, about all the different ways we can weave connections with each other rather than focusing on isolated little nuclear families. And it turns out Mia Birdsong lives right here in Oakland! My review.
She also linked to Be careful with each other by Rushdia Mehreen and David Gray-Donald. "How activist groups can build trust, care, and sustainability in a world of capitalism and oppression."
Collective care refers to seeing members’ well-being – particularly their emotional health – as a shared responsibility of the group rather than the lone task of an individual. It means that a group commits to addressing interlocking oppressions and reasons for deteriorating well-being within the group while also combatting oppression in society at large.
I loved her article The Opposite of Rape Culture is Nurturance Culture and I can't believe that was back in 2016. Nine years ago! Anyway, it's great to keep someone's feed on the list even if it seems like they'll never post again, because sometimes they do!



