Solidarity in Europe: The History of an Idea

by Steinar Stjernø

• ISBN13: 9780521843942
• ISBN10: 0521843944
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 2005-03-14
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press

Summary

Solidarity in Europe is a comprehensive study of the idea of solidarity from the early nineteenth century to the present. It covers social and political theory, Protestant and Catholic social ethics, and the development of the concept of solidarity in eight European nations - Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Steinar Stjerni examines how solidarity has been defined, and how this definition has changed since the early nineteenth century. He analyses different aspects of solidarity: what is the foundation of solidarity? Is it personal or common interest, 'sameness', altruism, religion, empathy, or cognition? What is the goal of solidarity? How inclusive should it be? The book also compares the different concepts of solidarity in social democratic, Christian democratic, communist and fascist parties.

Table of Contents

List of tables	viii
Acknowledgements	x
List of abbreviations	xii
Introduction: to study the idea of solidarity	1	(24)
The study of ideas	3	(5)
The contribution of this book	8	(2)
Method and material: parties and programmes	10	(6)
Aspects of solidarity	16	(3)
Previous research	19	(2)
Guidance for the reader	21	(4)
Part I Three traditions of solidarity
1 Solidarity in classic social theory	25	(17)
Prelude: from fraternity to Charles Fourier and Pierre Leroux	26	(4)
Comte: time, continuity and interdependence	30	(3)
Durkheim: social norms and shared values	33	(4)
Max Weber: solidarity in social relations	37	(2)
The discourse in the development of social theory in the early days of sociology	39	(3)
2 Politics: solidarity from Marx to Bernstein	42	(18)
Marxism: Karl Marx	43	(4)
The road to revisionism and social democratic theory: Karl Kautsky	47	(2)
Revisionist theories of solidarity: Eduard Bernstein and Ernst Wigforss	49	(3)
Austro-Marxism: a third alternative?	52	(1)
Leninism	53	(4)
Anarchism: Bakunin	57	(1)
Conclusion: Marxist, Leninist and social democratic solidarity	58	(2)
3 Religion: solidarity in Catholicism and Protestantism	60	(33)
Catholicism	62	(13)
Protestantism	75	(10)
Conclusion: concepts of solidarity in social theory, socialist theory and religion	85	(8)
Part II The idea of solidarity in politics in Western Europe
4 European variations of solidarity discourses in social democracy	93	(72)
The First International	96	(1)
Germany: a model, but a late-comer	97	(12)
Discourses on solidarity in Scandinavian social democracy	109	(23)
United Kingdom: an anomaly of European social democracy?	132	(12)
Solidarity in Southern European socialism	144	(19)
A preliminary conclusion: three clusters of solidarity discourses	163	(2)
5 A comparative perspective on social democratic solidarity	165	(38)
Periodisation of solidarity discourses	165	(4)
The transitional phase of socialist solidarity	169	(1)
The introduction of a social democratic concept	170	(14)
The foundation and the objective	184	(2)
The collective and the individual	186	(3)
The establishment of a language of solidarity	189	(3)
The challenges of the 1980's	192	(1)
A period of ideological and political uncertainty	193	(1)
Discussion: structural and political context variables	194	(2)
A history or differences and convergence	196	(3)
Conclusion: the modern concept of solidarity	199	(4)
6 The great challenger: the Christian democratic idea of solidarity	203	(42)
Germany: Zentrum and CDU	205	(12)
Italy: Christian democracy from birth to hegemony to dissolution	217	(13)
Norway: Christian politics from pietism to Christian democracy	230	(9)
Conclusion: Christian democratic vs. social democratic solidarity	239	(6)
7 The languages of modern social democratic and Christian democratic solidarity	245	(20)
The modern social democratic language	245	(3)
The Christian democratic language	248	(2)
Competing languages?	250	(1)
Convergence, but still differences	251	(1)
The advantages of a language of solidarity	252	(5)
Some problems	257	(2)
Social democratic and Christian democratic solidarity in the twenty-first century	259	(6)
8 Two excursions: Marxist-Leninist and fascist solidarity	265	(22)
Marxist-Leninist solidarity	265	(13)
Fascism: solidarity with the nation- against other nationalities and ethnic groups	278	(9)
Part III The present precariousness of solidarity
9 Solidarity in modern social philosophy and Christian ethics	287	(40)
Modern social theory	288	(11)
Socialist, left-wing and critical theory	299	(12)
Modern Catholic and Protestant theology on solidarity	311	(6)
Conclusion	317	(10)
10 Epilogue: hope and challenges- individualisation, consumerism and globalisation	327	(26)
First concern: the class foundation of solidarity	327	(6)
Second concern: individualism	333	(3)
Third concern: consumerism	336	(2)
Fourth concern: does the welfare state undermine solidarity?	338	(4)
Fifth concern: the ambiguous phenomenon of globalisation	342	(2)
Parties or social movements as carriers of solidarity?	344	(4)
Global citizenship- global ethics?	348
References
Documents	353	(10)
Literature	363	(21)
Index	384