Shifting Solidarities

“There is no more important issue than the future of solidarity. This book outlines the different forms and institutional arenas of solidarity, how it is shifting, and how it can be advanced.” —Professor Craig Calhoun, Arizona State University, USA and London School of Economics, UK

“Shifting Solidarities gives us an intelligent version of all that is in play today around the notion of solidarity, its persistent importance and shifting character.” —Professor Saskia Sassen, Columbia University, USA

“In light of globalization, digitalization and eco-transformation, we need to revive the notion of solidarity. As this book shows, Europe should live up to its own history and reclaim its ambition in terms of (geo)political and socio-economic relationships. A timely wake-up call for all concerned Europeans.”  —Professor José van Dijck, Utrecht University, The Netherlands 

Shifting Solidarities offers a comprehensiveanalysis of solidarity at a time when major social transformations have penetrated the heart of European societies, disrupting markets and labour relations, transforming social practices, and affecting the moral infrastructure of European welfare states. Factors such as the economic crisis, migration, digitalisation, and climate change all contribute to a sense of emergency. This volume considers how, in times of crisis, there are calls for solidarity by various new social and political actors and movements. 

The contributions present a broad array of empirical work and critical scholarship, zooming in on shifting solidarities in various domains of social life, including work, social policy, health care, religion, family, gender and migration. This compelling volume provides a unique resource for understanding solidarity in contemporary Europe, and will be a vital text for students and scholars across sociology, social policy, cultural studies, employment/labour markets and organisation studies, migration studies and European studies.