
Solidarity in Europe and the World
We think of solidarity as “the ability to engage in cooperative activity to strive for common goals, and a sense of unity and bonding” (Jeffries, 2014, p. 7). Following Mbembe’s lead, solidarity entails the mutual recognition of our common vulnerability and finiteness and in turn creates a basis for dealing with it.
In the multi-layered network of structures of living together, solidarity can find an expression at different levels and in a variety of intensities. The extent of solidarity that can serve as basis for collective action also arguably varies with the sources of vulnerability. These may vary from the human condition itself, in line with Mbembe’s cosmopolitan argument, to less inclusive definitions of “we” based e.g. on pre-existing “bonds which unite men with another”, as Durkheim (in Lukes, 1972, p. 139) or Sen (2009) would argue, or constitutional bonds, in line with Rawls or Habermas (Banting & Kymlicka, 2017, pp. 5-47, p. 3-4).
Historically, solidarity has come to be centrally anchored at the level of the nation-state, where the “nation” defines a “we” that claims to rule itself (Appiah, 2018, p.147) and that therefore also can both invoke national sovereignty to fend off external influences and, internally, justify the enforcement of particular entitlements and duties. Consequently, the predominant role of supra-national structures has been seen as merely to support national-level structures in fulfilling this role. This tradition is deeply rooted in European Humanism (Grotius in Nussbaum, 2019, pp. 105-55), which has been a rich source of inspiration not just to reflect on solidarity but also to justify a model of civilization imposed through colonization or other strategies of western domination.
Projects
SCRIBANI network
gathers 15 European Jesuit centres on the social construction of Europe
FUCE
UCSIA is part of the European Federation of Catholic Universities, which offers a summer school on European Humanism in the Making
Peace Education Chair
examines an aspect of peace in its manifold manifestations and subjects it to a scholarly multidisciplinary investigation.
Events
The Fractured Heart of Europe
festival of art, literature and film
(in Dutch)
18 May 2022
Capabilities and Transformative Institutions
HDCA conference
19-22 September 2022
*** new date ***
all events
Europe and Solidarity
News
Islamic Religious Education in Europe
How do European countries organize the education of Islam? Scholars from different academic backgrounds and from different European contexts shared their insights at the conference ‘Education of Islam – Islam in Education in Europe’ in Antwerp.Watch the keynotes...
European Solidarity and Just Financing
call for papers for an international academic workshop in March 2023. Which place does solidarity have within the European Union? New and existing support mechanisms along with new financing instruments entail further steps in the creation of a ‘Social Europe’. It makes the question ever more pressing which place the EU actually holds in the domain of social policy. Submission deadline: 1 September 2022
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on Europe and Solidarity