The term solidarity has acquired a commendable meaning of mutual responsibility, yet remains suspect because it has been invoked in too broad a spectrum of cultural contexts, ranging from fascist ideology to human rights. This essential book shows how solidarity may be – should be – conceived as a normative principle with pressing legal content, instrumental to the realisation of the social ends of today’s democratic polities. The author, for the first time in such depth, documents the interweaving of legal norms with social ideas and values, focusing on the use of the principle of solidarity in the European Union’s bodies and in its Member States. There are detailed examinations of how the principle appears in such realms as the following: national constitutions; welfare systems; regulation of contracts; social effects of legal rules; women’s rights; the social market economy; the social doctrine of the Catholic Church; affirmation of corporate social responsibility; and sustainability and corporate governance. The author describes how each context contributes to a meaningful elaboration of the concept of solidarity, thus synthesising and extending prior work on the subject. Following Kant’s dictum that the solidarity of mankind is a ‘to be or not to be; a matter of life or death’, in today's difficult and calamitous times it is appropriate to rethink the principle of solidarity as the reason for living, living fully and not just surviving, in a social agglomeration we call a community. Decoding solidarity, in order to fully understand its potentialities, misrepresentations, and mystifications has therefore become a task entrusted to jurists. For this reason, this matchless book will prove invaluable for lawyers, judges, and policymakers, all of whose professions demand authoritative knowledge of the legal relations among individuals and among legal entities.

Finding the phenomenon of solidarity an erratic block in the midst of the moral landscape of the modern age, scientists from philosophy, sociology, history, law, psychology, and biology met in the Autumn of 1994 at the University of Bielefeld, Germany, to ponder the concept, its history, and its significance. Those presentations are here augmented by others to expand the coverage. Among the topics are four uses of solidarity, fraternity and justice, the bonds and bounds of solidarity, theoretical perspectives for empirical research, institutional and social concepts of solidarity in 19th-century western Europe, constitutional law, citizenship, and post-modern perspectives. The labor movement is even mentioned a few times. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR

This edited volume explores the principle of solidarity in international and EU law. Although the concept is regularly invoked in international and EU legal and policy debates alike, its meaning, nature and functions, as well as normative contours still remain nebulous. The contributions in this volume reflect on the legal trajectory of solidarity in international and EU law and offer unique insights into the evolution and status of the principle in different fields of international and EU law. By doing so, the book also serves as a springboard for answering broader questions pertaining to what the stage of development of this principle may imply for the two legal orders and their interaction. As the chapters of this book show, the debate on solidarity is premised on conflicting visions regarding the values underpinning the international legal order as well as the self-interest or community-oriented driving forces behind States’ action at the international level. The regional (EU law) perspective offers a new lens through which to revisit classic questions pertaining to the nature of modern international law and to assess its continuing relevance in a world of regional organizations presenting different visions (and levels) of co-operation. This book, the second volume to appear in the Global Europe Series, will appeal to international and EU law researchers and policy-makers alike with an interest in the nature and function of the principle of solidarity in international and EU law. Eva Kassoti is Senior researcher in EU and International Law at the T.M.C. Asser Institute in The Hague, The Netherlands and the Academic Co-ordinator of CLEER. Narin Idriz is Researcher in EU Law at the T.M.C. Asser Institute in The Hague, The Netherlands.

This book presents a new view on the concept of solidarity and explains how it complements justice in health and social care.

This volume presents a high-level scholarly discussion on whether the concept of solidarity functions as a structural principle of international law and to what extent it has become a full-fledged legal principle. Each contributor addresses these questions by examining normative operations of the principle of solidarity in different branches of international law – including international disaster law, international humanitarian law, the law of development cooperation and international environmental law – as well as the relationship between the principle of solidarity and other legal principles such as the responsibility to protect and intergenerational equity.

The European Union has evolved from a purely economic organisation to a multi-faceted entity with political, social and human rights dimensions. This has created an environment in which the concept of solidarity is gaining a more substantial role in shaping the EU legal order. This book provides both a retrospective assessment and an outlook on the future possibilities of solidarity’s practical and theoretical meaning and legal enforcement in the ever-changing Union.

This comprehensive and insightful Research Handbook addresses the interpretation of international solidarity within topical legal regimes and regional systems, as well as in relation to decolonization and the concepts of Ummah and Ubuntu. It examines the way in which international solidarity enables the global community to respond to intercontinental challenges, including climate change, forced migration, health emergencies, and inequality.