Relational Infrastructure and Resilient Resistance: From George Floyd Square to ICE Resistance Networks in Minneapolis

• In Event: Mobilization Under (Growing) Autocracy

Abstract

Background: In Minneapolis, George Floyd Square (GFS) has evolved from a memorial for George Floyd into a hub of community-led resistance and civic infrastructure, deeply rooted in previous uprisings and movements. Six years after Minneapolis police murdered George Floyd, GFS stands as a testament to how protest can transform into adaptive systems of care, governance, and resistance. At the core of this transformation is relational infrastructure (a dense network of personal relationships, mutual care, and shared norms) that sustains the space as both a sacred site and a community commons. This paper explores how relational infrastructure at GFS has enabled enduring resistance movements in Minneapolis, providing vital insights into how movements can create alternatives to state power, especially in contexts of repression and democratic backsliding.

Research Design: Drawing on five years of ethnographic research, including 59 interviews and direct community participation, this paper examines how GFS’s relational infrastructure has evolved and adapted to meet new challenges, such as the ongoing resistance to ICE raids in 2026. The paper traces the continuity of relational infrastructure from GFS in 2020 to current efforts to resist ICE’s occupation of Minneapolis. I argue that the community-driven systems of care, justice, and safety developed at GFS serve as a foundation for long-term resilience in the face of state violence and systemic neglect.

Contribution: This research contributes to the understanding of social movements by highlighting how grassroots communities can create sustainable forms of governance and justice that operate outside formal state structures (Okechekwu 2021; Wright 2010). By examining practices such as restorative justice, mutual aid, and alternative governance, this paper demonstrates how relational infrastructure can support lasting change, even under conditions of repression and democratic backsliding. GFS offers a concrete place-based example of how movements can build resilient civic infrastructure outside of formal state institutions.

Author

• Anna DalCortivo, University of Minnesota-Twin Cities