Chapter 13: Coping and Community: Grassroots Care in the Digital Aftermath

Following the inward focus of Grieving the Living, this chapter turns outward to the collective work of endurance. Within this movement, Coping and Community explores how care itself becomes a way of adapting to the long aftermath. It shows that the consequences of radicalisation do not end with rupture. They continue to shift within the small and ordinary practices through which people keep each other afloat.

The chapter moves through three layers: the subreddit as a practical infrastructure for survival, as a shared space of recognition and kinship, and as a contradictory environment shaped by rules that both protect and confine. Together, these layers reveal the promise and the paradox of digital care in the shadow of radicalisation. Previous research distinguishes between emotional and informational support (e.g. Andy & Andy, 2021; Blanc-Bisson et al., 2022; Coulson et al., 2007; Lu et al., 2021). While these forms often overlap, both were present across our data. To reflect this interplay, the chapter is arranged in three parts.