Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology addresses contemporary themes in the field of Political Sociology. Over recent years, attention has turned increasingly to processes of Europeanization and globalization and the social and political spaces that are opened by them. These processes comprise both institutional-constitutional change and new dynamics of social transnationalism. Europeanization and globalization are also about changing power relations as they affect people's lives, social networks and forms of mobility.The Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology series addresses linkages between regulation, institution building and the full range of societal repercussions at local, regional, national, European and global level, and will sharpen understanding of changing patterns of attitudes and behaviours of individuals and groups, the political use of new rights and opportunities by citizens, new conflict lines and coalitions, societal interactions and networking, and shifting loyalties and solidarity within and across the European space.We welcome proposals from across the spectrum of Political Sociology and Political Science, on dimensions of citizenship; political attitudes and values; political communication and public spheres; states, communities, governance structure and political institutions; forms of political participation; populism and the radical right; and democracy and democratization.More information about this series at

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In this article we contribute to the mapping out of overall solidarity responses from below to the pandemic by giving local insight into the varied forms of neighbourly support groups in Leipzig, Eastern Germany. Having followed the trajectories of six groups between May and September 2020 with eleven semi-structured interviews, we highlight different organizational approaches, understandings of solidarity, normative horizons, transformative aspirations and practical barriers to these aspirations. We analytically map out the groups with three different sociological conceptions of solidarity (solidarity based on shared identity, as a moral duty or as a transformative political practice) and highlight their blurry boundaries in practice. We tentatively assess the transformative potential of the groups' activism and reflect on it in relation to their socio-spatial locations within the city.