This article proposes a new approach to solidarity. Previous research has focused on macro-structural and micro-behavioural aspects of solidarity, overlooking that solidarity is discursively constructed by actors on the meso-level. The meso approach to solidarity consists of two key dimensions: meaning and scale. The meaning of solidarity characterises its content. The scale of solidarity indicates who is encompassed by solidarity. This approach is applied by analysing meanings and scales of solidarity in the German media discourse on Europe’s migration crisis from 2010 to 2015. The discourse network analysis is deployed to study the co-occurrence of meanings and scales of solidarity. The results indicate that political and cultural solidarity are the most dominant meanings and they are mostly linked to the intergovernmental and transnational scale of solidarity. The number of claims to political solidarity on the intergovernmental level of the European Union increases in 2015, signalling the greater relevance of creating a solidary institutional mechanism in the migration crisis. The article contributes to recent discussions on solidarity as well as the public framing of Europe’s migration crisis.
ArtsWGelissenJ (2001) Welfare States, Solidarity and Justice Principles: Does the Type Really Matter?Acta Sociologica44 (4): 283–299.
2.
BaldwinP (1990) Politics of Social Solidarity: Class Bases of the European Welfare State 1875–1975. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
3.
BantingKGKymlickaW (eds) (2017) The Strains of Commitment: The Political Sources of Solidarity in Diverse Societies. Oxford; New York: Oxford University Press.
4.
BayertzK (1999) Four Uses of Solidarity. In: Bayertzk (ed.) Solidarity, Philosophical Studies in Contemporary Culture. Dordrecht: Kluwer, pp.3–28.
5.
BechtelMMHainmuellerJMargalitY (2014) Preferences for International Redistribution: The Divide over the Eurozone Bailouts. American Journal of Political Science58 (4): 835–856.
6.
BenfordRDSnowDA (2000) Framing Processes and Social Movements: An Overview and Assessment. Annual Review of Sociology26 (1): 611–639.
7.
BiermannFGuérinNJagdhuberS, et al. (2019) Political (Non-)reform in the Euro Crisis and the Refugee Crisis: A Liberal Intergovernmentalist Explanation. Journal of European Public Policy26 (2): 246–266.
8.
BonacichP (1987) Power and Centrality: A Family of Measures. American Journal of Sociology9 (5): 1170–1182.
9.
BorängF (2015) Large-scale Solidarity? Effects of Welfare State Institutions on the Admission of Forced Migrants. European Journal of Political Research54 (2): 216–231.
10.
BörnerS (2013) Belonging, Solidarity and Expansion in Social Policy. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
11.
BoswellCHampshireJ (2017) Ideas and Agency in Immigration Policy: A Discursive Institutionalist Approach. European Journal of Political Research56 (1): 133–150.
12.
BreidahlKNHoltugNKongshøjK (2018) Do Shared Values Promote Social Cohesion? If So, Which? Evidence from Denmark. European Political Science Review10 (1): 97–118.
13.
BrunkhorstH (2005) Solidarity: From Civic Friendship to a Global Legal Community (Studies in Contemporary German Social Thought) (translated by FlynnJ). Cambridge, MA: MIT Press.
CiorneiIRecchiE (2017) At the Source of European Solidarity: Assessing the Effects of Cross-border Practices and Political Attitudes. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies55 (3): 468–485.
16.
ClausetANewmanMEJMooreC (2004) Finding Community Structure In Very Large Networks. Physical Review E70 (6): 066111.
17.
ClosaCMaatschA (2014) In a Spirit of Solidarity? Justifying the European Financial Stability Facility (EFSF) in National Parliamentary Debates. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies52 (4): 826–842.
18.
Della PortaD (ed.) (2018) Solidarity Mobilizations in the ‘Refugee Crisis’: Contentious Moves. Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology. Cham: Palgrave Macmillan.
19.
EntmanRM (1993) Framing: Toward Clarification of a Fractured Paradigm. Journal of Communication43 (4): 51–58.
FerreraM (2006) The Boundaries of Welfare: European Integration and the New Spatial Politics of Social Protection, Reprinted edn. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
24.
GajewskaK (2009) Transnational Labour Solidarity: Mechanisms of Commitment to Cooperation within the European Trade Union Movement. London: Routledge.
25.
GallieWB (1956) Essentially Contested Concepts. Proceedings of the Aristotelian Society56: 167–198.
26.
GalpinC (2017) The Euro Crisis and European Identities: Political and Media Discourse in Germany, Ireland and Poland (New Perspectives in German Political Studies). Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
27.
GeddesA (2018) The Politics of European Union Migration Governance. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies56: 120–130.
28.
GelissenJ (2000) Popular Support for Institutionalised Solidarity: A Comparison Between European Welfare States. International Journal of Social Welfare9 (4): 285–300.
29.
GenschelPJachtenfuchsM (2018) From Market Integration to Core State Powers: The Eurozone Crisis, the Refugee Crisis and Integration Theory: Crises in Core State Powers. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies56 (1): 178–196.
30.
GreussingEBoomgaardenHG (2017) Shifting the Refugee Narrative? An Automated Frame Analysis of Europe’s 2015 Refugee Crisis. Journal of Ethnic and Migration Studies43 (11): 1749–1774.
31.
HabermasJ (2013) Im Sog der Technokratie. Ein Plädoyer für europäische Solidarität. In: HabermasJ (ed.) Im Sog der Technokratie: Kleine politische Schriften. Berlin: Suhrkamp, pp.82–111.
JonesE (2014) Identity and Solidarity. In: JonesEMenonAWeatherhillS (eds) The Oxford Handbook of the European Union. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.690–702.
34.
KneuerMMasalaC (2015) Politische Solidarität: Vermessung eines weiten und unerschlossenen Feldes. In: KneuerMMasalaC (eds) Solidarität: Politikwissenschaftliche Zugänge zu einem vielschichtigen Begriff (Zeitschrift für Politikwissenschaft Sonderband). Baden-Baden: Nomos, pp.7–25.
35.
KolersAH (2012) Dynamics of Solidarity. Journal of Political Philosophy20 (4): 365–383.
36.
KoopmansRStathamP (1999) Political Claims Analysis: Integrating Protest Event and Political Discourse Approaches. Mobilization: An International Journal4 (1): 203–221.
37.
KoopmansRStathamP (2010) The Making of a European Public Sphere: Media Discourse and Political Contention. New York: Cambridge University Press.
38.
KuhnTSolazHvan ElsasEJ (2018) Practising What You Preach: How Cosmopolitanism Promotes Willingness to Redistribute Across the European Union. Journal of European Public Policy25 (12): 1759–1778.
39.
LahusenCGrassoM (2018) Solidarity in Europe: Comparative Assessment and Discussion. In: LahusenCGrassoM (eds) Solidarity in Europe: Citizens’ Responses in Times of Crisis (Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, pp.253–282.
40.
LeifeldP (2016) Policy Debates as Dynamic Networks: German Pension Politics and Privatization Discourse (Schriften des Zentrums für Sozialpolitik Bremen). Frankfurt: Campus.
41.
LeifeldPHaunssS (2012) Political Discourse Networks and the Conflict over Software Patents in Europe. European Journal of Political Research51 (3): 382–409.
42.
ManatschalAFreitagM (2014) Reciprocity and Volunteering. Rationality and Society26 (2): 208–235.
43.
MartinsenDSVollaardH (2014) Implementing Social Europe in Times of Crises: Re-established Boundaries of Welfare?West European Politics37 (4): 677–692.
44.
MauS (2005a) Democratic Demand for a Social Europe? Preferences of the European Citizenry: Democratic Demand for a Social Europe?International Journal of Social Welfare14 (2): 76–85.
45.
MauS (2005b) Leerstelle europäische Solidarität? In: BergerJ (ed.) Zerreisst das Soziale Band? Beiträge zu einer aktuellen gesellschaftspolitischen Debatte. Frankfurt: Campus, pp.245–272.
46.
NewmanMEJ (2004) Fast Algorithm for Detecting Community Structure in Networks. Physical Review E69 (6): 066133.
47.
NossekHAdoniHNimrodG (2015) Is Print Really Dying? The State of Print Media Use in Europe. International Journal of Communication9: 365–385.
48.
ReinemannCStanyerJScherrS, et al. (2012) Hard and Soft News: A Review of Concepts, Operationalizations and Key Findings. Journalism13 (2): 221–239.
49.
RisseT (2010) A Community of Europeans? Transnational Identities and Public Spheres. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press.
50.
SangiovanniA (2013) Solidarity in the European Union. Oxford Journal of Legal Studies33 (2): 213–241.
51.
ScheepersPGrotenhuisMT (2005) Who Cares for the Poor in Europe? Micro and Macro Determinants for Alleviating Poverty in 15 European Countries. European Sociological Review21 (5): 453–465.
52.
SchelkleW (2017) The Political Economy of Monetary Solidarity: Understanding the Euro Experiment. Oxford: Oxford University Press.
53.
ScholzSJ (2008) Political Solidarity. University Park, PA: Pennsylvania State University Press.
54.
SnowDA (2007) Framing Processes, Ideology, and Discursive Fields. In: SnowDASouleSAKriesiH (eds) The Blackwell Companion to Social Movements. Oxford: Blackwell Publishing Ltd, pp. 380–412.
55.
SommerM (2013) Europe Needs a Change of Course. In: GrozelierA-MHackerBKowalskyW, et al (eds) Roadmap to a Social Europe. London: Social Europe Ltd., pp.83–85.
56.
SteenslandB (2008) Why do Policy Frames Change? Actor-Idea Coevolution in Debates Over Welfare Reform. Social Forces86 (3): 1027–1054.
57.
StjernøS ([2005] 2009) Solidarity in Europe: The History of an Idea, Re-print edn. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press.
58.
TeneyCHelblingM (2017) Solidarity Between the Elites and the Masses in Germany. In: BantingKGKymlickaW (eds) The Strains of Commitment: The Political Sources of Solidarity in Diverse Societies. Oxford: Oxford University Press, pp.127–151.
59.
TeneyCLacewellOPDe WildeP (2014) Winners and Losers of Globalization in Europe: Attitudes and Ideologies. European Political Science Review6 (4): 575–595.
60.
ThomannERappC (2018) Who Deserves Solidarity? Unequal Treatment of Immigrants in Swiss Welfare Policy Delivery. Policy Studies Journal46 (3): 531–552.
61.
TrenzH-JGrassoM (2018) Toward a New Conditionality of Welfare? Reconsidering Solidarity in the Danish Welfare State. In: LahusenCGrassoM (eds) Solidarity in Europe: Citizens’ Responses in Times of Crisis (Palgrave Studies in European Political Sociology). Cham: Palgrave Macmillan, pp.19–42.
62.
Van OorschotW (2000) Who Should Get What, and Why? On Deservingness Criteria and the Conditionality of Solidarity Among the Public. Policy & Politics28 (1): 33–48.
63.
Van OorschotW (2006) Making the Difference in Social Europe: Deservingness Perceptions Among Citizens of European Welfare States. Journal of European Social Policy16 (1): 23–42.
64.
VollmerBKarakayaliS (2018) The Volatility of the Discourse on Refugees in Germany. Journal of Immigrant & Refugee Studies16 (1–2): 118–139.
65.
WallaschekS (2018a) Solidarity in Europe in Times of Crisis. Journal of European Integration. Epub ahead of print 20 December. DOI: 10.1080/07036337.2019.1546980.
66.
WallaschekS (2018b) Umkämpfte Solidarität und die Krise der EU. Zeitschrift für Politik65 (4): 413–420.
67.
WesslerHPetersBBrüggemannM, et al. (2008) Transnationalization of Public Spheres. Basingstoke: Palgrave Macmillan.
68.
WonkaA (2016) The Party Politics of the Euro Crisis in the German Bundestag: Frames, Positions and Salience. West European Politics39 (1): 125–144.
69.
ZaunN (2016) Why EU Asylum Standards Exceed the Lowest Common Denominator: The Role of Regulatory Expertise in EU Decision-making. Journal of European Public Policy23 (1): 136–154.
70.
ZaunN (2018) States as Gatekeepers in EU Asylum Politics: Explaining the Non-adoption of a Refugee Quota System. JCMS: Journal of Common Market Studies56 (1): 44–62.
Supplementary Material
Please find the following supplemental material available below.
For Open Access articles published under a Creative Commons License, all supplemental material carries the same license as the article it is associated with.
For non-Open Access articles published, all supplemental material carries a non-exclusive license, and permission requests for re-use of supplemental material or any part of supplemental material shall be sent directly to the copyright owner as specified in the copyright notice associated with the article.
