Rosine 2.0: Futures + Histories of Collective Care is a companion volume to Rosine 2.0, a project that brought together socially engaged art, harm reduction, mutual aid, and archival practices. The publication includes essays and interviews; historical and contemporary ephemera; a portrait series; and documentation to share community-engaged processes. The publication’s construction responds materially to the project—serving as both book and archival container—to preserve the ephemera and community-made publications that emerged during Rosine 2.0. These materials were created and distributed through the community networks that the Collective engaged.

Published in 2023 by Swarthmore College Libraries and The Eugene M. Lang Center for Civic and Social Responsibility, in conjunction with Rosine 2.0’s culminating exhibition and public programs, March 1 – April 16, 2023. Edited by Carol Stakenas with Jordan Landes and Katie L. Price. All proceeds will go to Project SAFE and Precious Jewels LLC.

A special feature of this publication is the front pocket, which functions as a container to preserve the ephemera and community-made publications emerging as part of Rosine Association 2.0. These materials were created and distributed through the community networks that the Rosine 2.0 Collective engaged. Included in the publication are:

1. Nightshade Collective: Bound Together
   Workshop and publication planned and organized by Raani Begum, Zissel Aronow, and Elaine Lopez. Design by Elaine Lopez. Proofreading by Catalyst. Risograph publication, 66 pgs. Lancaster, PA: Risolve Studio, printer, 2023.
2. Mad Ecologies: A Radical Harm Reduction Inquiry, Edited by Raani Begum, Lulu Duffy-Tumasz, Nick Angelo, and Dont Rhine. Design by Dont Rhine. Publication, 84 pgs. Philadelphia: Fireball Printing, 2023.
3. Philadelphia Principles: Radical harm reduction and the world we want, MadEcologies.com broadsheet. Philadelphia: Fireball Printing, 2023.
4. Reimagining Histories: Rosine Association Casebook Discoveries, Zine featuring excerpts of student work by Vivian Truong’s History 56: “Police, Prisons, & Protests” course, Spring 2022. Design by H. Leigh Brown. Publication, 28 pgs. Philadelphia: Fireball Printing, 2022.

More about the project:
Rosine Association 2.0, initiated by Swarthmore College, is an interdisciplinary collective of artists, harm reductionists, archivists, and community members involved in today’s street economies, specifically at the intersection of sex work and drug use.
Rosine 2.0 facilitates harm reduction through the development of new artistic works and a community-based archive. The socially engaged works serve as a lens through which others can seek to understand their neighbors from marginalized communities who are also involved in the street economies of Philadelphia.

Rosine 2.0 is inspired by the original Rosine Association, co-founded in 1847 by Mira Sharpless Townsend, a Philadelphia Quaker activist. The organization was run by women for women to help “females who have wandered from the paths of virtue” (i.e., engaged in sex work and substance use, facing physical abuse and exploitation). Townsend’s papers, acquired by the Friends Historical Library of Swarthmore College in 2019, contain her correspondence, poetry, and other materials related to her activism, including two casebooks documenting the lives of the women she sought to help. The Lang Center will provide vision and leadership in activating these archives within living communities through an interdisciplinary collective of artists, harm reductionists, scholars, and community members.