Community assemblages during the COVID-19 pandemic in Madrid

Abstract

This article presents the findings of a two year research project studying community responses to the COVID-19 pandemic in six neighborhoods in Madrid. Drawing on the theoretical corpus of symmetrical anthropology, we develop the concept of “community assemblages” to complement and extend analyses of the pandemic that have highlighted the importance of social capital, community resilience and participatory processes. Examples from the project case studies are used to describe three types of assemblages: bonding, bridging and linking. Focusing on assemblages allows us to examine the resources, relations and capacities that operate within a territory, but also to the infrastructures, protocols and logistics that accompany and underpin the sustainability of a community ecosystem.