No abstract

Solidarity is one of the central concepts in social theory and has gained much attention due to the multiple challenges that the EU has been facing the last decade and due to the most recent COVID-19 pandemic. Although the debate on the nature and conditions of solidarity has been revitalized, there remains a large variety in how to conceptualize solidarity. In contrast to other approaches, we do not conceive solidarity as normative concept, but as descriptive–analytical one. Therefore, we provide a theory-based definition that is prone to capture the empirical dimensions of solidarity. Accounting for the dynamic and interactive character of solidarity as subject to permanent societal and political renegotiation, we conceptualize solidarity from a discourse perspective and follow a multilevel design breaking down the understandings of solidarity on different levels. This approach contributes to the research of solidarity that is interested to capturing the ‘real world’ dimensions of solidarity.

This article analyzes the communication of the prime ministers of Ireland and New Zealand during the first phase of the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020. Ireland and New Zealand share the characteristics of being small, prosperous OECD island states with a liberal political culture. Both countries experienced a similar COVID-19 trajectory in which a sharp increase in cases was followed by a strict shutdown of public life and a decreasing rate of infection in early summer 2020. Our analysis focuses on three aspects: Firstly, we investigate the role of the prime ministers' political orientation on public communication in times of crisis. Secondly, we examine the framing of solidarity by conceptualizing it as either action-oriented or institutionalized and we account for different scales of solidarity. Thirdly, we ask how solidarity is referred to in various policy fields. We apply a qualitative content analysis to examine these aspects in press releases and public speeches in the time period February to June 2020. We demonstrate that political orientation has little bearing on the framing of solidarity. Both prime ministers used both conceptions of solidarity to a similar extent. Moreover, they emphasized public health and economic policies to deal with the crisis and overcome the pandemic. The article contributes to the study of governmental communication in times of crisis, how solidarity is articulated by heads of government, and how small island states have dealt with the COVID-19 pandemic.