Author:

Keywords:

social capital, solidarity, place, diversity, Social Sciences, Geography, Social Sciences, Interdisciplinary, Sociology, Social Sciences - Other Topics, ETHNIC DIVERSITY, GEOGRAPHIES, SPACE, ENCOUNTERS, MOVEMENTS, POLITICS, CITY, DIFFERENCE, EXCLUSION, COMMUNITY

Abstract:

In many Western European countries, concern rises that both formal mechanisms of redistribution and informal acts of charity, reciprocity and support are challenged by ethnic and cultural diversity. Against such gloomy perspectives, this paper draws on insights from sociology, geography, pedagogy and political science to argue that four traditional sources of solidarity (interdependence, shared norms and values, struggle and encounter) remain relevant, but require a rethinking of their spatial and temporal framing to capture today’s intricate engagements of solidarity. More specifically, we claim that solidarities grounded in the spatial boundedness of territorial states and the intergenerational continuity of supposedly culturally homogeneous nations are complemented and enriched today with solidarities developing in the entirely different spatio-temporal register of the everyday places and practices in which people engage across ethnic and cultural boundaries. We argue that it is necessary to understand the interconnections between both instances of solidarity, and the way they are shaped by conscious interventions and citizenship struggles, to improve our understanding of the future of solidarity in diversity.