ABSTRACT
The COVID-19 pandemic has been putting the social relations of protection to the test worldwide, not only by increasing the risk to and vulnerability of populations in the health field, but also in the social and economic spheres more broadly. This has generated diverse responses from states, local communities and civil society organizations, which are grounded in specific levels and forms of trust and have resulted in varying degrees of effectiveness, solidarity, concerted or violent actions. This paper offers a case study of the responses of two solidarity networks of subaltern women in Brazil. They are AMESOL, an urban solidarity economy network, and RAMA, a rural solidarity-based agroecology network. Using remote surveys carried out in 2020, we examine the reorganization of these networks for the ensured continuity of economic practice and mutual aid, the nature of the relations mobilized, and their connection to other levels of protection from local communities and the state. We argue that a certain type of trust is specific to AMESOL and RAMA. It stems from women backing a political discourse that is critical of domination along gender, class and race lines (political trust), and gradually implementing the solidarity economy and agroecology proposals which are contained in this discourse (pragmatic trust). Moreover, uncertainty over access to state social protection under President Bolsonaro has inflamed distrust among some of the population, boosting the meaningfulness of alternative forms of trust in solidarity networks and local communities.
