Month: April 2026

The 121 year old Governors’ Association (“To Our Avail”) may have acquired relevance again as a possible local support system in times of crisis.

The 2019 publication on the Nieuwendam Governors’ Association (“To Our Avail”) documents a long-lived Dutch mutual sickness fund whose resilience rested less on formal rules than on enduring norms of trust, reciprocity, and social cohesion. Although its original economic function declined with the rise of the welfare state, the association persisted as a social network, preserving cooperative practices and relationships. This case supports the argument of Arjen Boin that small, local associations are essential to civil defence and societal resilience. Such organisations provide the social infrastructure needed for coordination and mutual support in times of crisis, demonstrating that resilience is not only built by central institutions but also sustained from the bottom up.

See also: The 2019 publication of a Chronicle of the Governors’ Association: an Investigation into the Resilience and Longevity of the Co-operative Structure of the Communal Sickness Fund ‘To Our Avail’ in the Research Data Journal for the Humanities and Social Sciences https://doi.org/10.1163/24523666-00401004