IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/sae/socres/v26y2021i3p628-648.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

What Is Solidarity About? Views of Transnational Organisations’ Activists in Germany, Poland, and Greece

Author

Listed:
  • Ulrike Zschache

    (University of Siegen, Germany)

  • Maria Theiss

    (University of Warsaw, Poland)

  • Maria Paschou

    (University of Crete, Greece)

Abstract

The notion of solidarity plays an important role in debates about the future of Europe. Yet, it can be used in a diverse or even contradictory manner as contemporary discussions about refugees in Europe or the implementation of social rights at the EU-level well illustrate. While the focus of public attention is often on political leaders, the goal of this article is to deepen our knowledge about the understanding of solidarity by its practitioners at the grassroots-level of solidarity work. Our study is based on 97 individual interviews with representatives of transnational solidarity organisations (TSOs) located in Germany, Poland, and Greece. We show how their understanding of solidarity varies across three basic themes: the rationale of action, the scope of beneficiaries, and relations with and among beneficiaries. Most strikingly, our research reveals that the core understanding of solidarity among the TSOs under review reflects a progressive, transnational type of solidarity that emphasises universalism, connection-building between targets of solidarity and establishing group identities based on collective action and not pre-defined features. At the same time, our study shows how TSOs adapt to complex country- and field-specific contextual conditions.

Suggested Citation

  • Ulrike Zschache & Maria Theiss & Maria Paschou, 2021. "What Is Solidarity About? Views of Transnational Organisations’ Activists in Germany, Poland, and Greece," Sociological Research Online, , vol. 26(3), pages 628-648, September.
    • Handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:26:y:2021:i:3:p:628-648
    DOI: 10.1177/1360780420962808
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/1360780420962808
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1177/1360780420962808?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. London, Leslie & Schneider, Helen, 2012. "Globalisation and health inequalities: Can a human rights paradigm create space for civil society action?," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 74(1), pages 6-13.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.

      Corrections

      All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:sae:socres:v:26:y:2021:i:3:p:628-648. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

      If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

      If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

      If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

      For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: SAGE Publications (email available below). General contact details of provider: .

      Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

      IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.