Solidarity in the European Union

Abstract

Drawing on the existing literature, the following chapter is dedicated to deriving a sound theoretical concept of individual European solidarity. This concept aims at capturing the solidarity of individual citizens in the EU. On one hand, this concept should model European solidarity in the European debt crisis, but on the other hand, it should also be applicable to other relevant problems that call for European solidarity. Therefore, I first review the theoretical literature on solidarity and evaluate the most important concepts in terms of their applicability to the European context. Second, I use these insights to define three key requirements for the concept of European solidarity. Third, I deduce a norm-based theoretical concept of individual European solidarity that meets the three predefined requirements. Fourth, I look at the drivers of solidarity to determine how European solidarity can be explained and ultimately strengthened. Existing Concepts of (European) SolidarityA brief look at the historical traditions of the term solidarity helps to understand the variety of existing concepts of (European) solidarity. Starting in ancient Greece, solidarity described some sort of friendship among the population of the polis. It referred to feelings of sympathy

Struggling for the right to struggle: Cultural workers’ labour rights and unions

“…As such, they have established new organizations representing workers regardless of employment status and industry (Yoo, 2015). In addition, the Hope Solidarity Union (HSU), an alternative form of union, was established in 2009 and has included workers in non-standard employment across occupations and companies based on social-movement trade union principles (Park, 2021). Social movement trade unionism has a goal of achieving both labour and civil rights in that it aims to support marginalized workers (Kim, 2017).…”