Communicational representations of survival practices in the context of the pandemic: the case of the ollas comunes managers in the city of Lima

Abstract

This article analyzes the findings of a study on the communicational representations of marginalized and vulnerable populations’ survival practices during the COVID-19 pandemic crisis. To this end, based on the analysis of the key social actors’ discourse involved in this experience, we propose to discuss the role of civil society actors in the construction of new citizenships and the configuration of social capital in crisis contexts, in which the media plays a major role. Among the main results of the experience with the ollas comunes (community pots), it is possible to observe the way in which the contemporary representation of social actors is reconstructed from the margins, the social and cultural meaning of collective demands (beyond food), the recognition of collective capacities to face crises, and the reactivation of cultural practices that were developed prior to the pandemic and became an important support to manage the crisis. Likewise, the key role of the media as a mediating factor for the visibility of social actors’ practices in the context of the crisis can be appreciated.