Solidarity as ‘brotherhood amongst unequals’

Lecture/discussion

Language: German
Duration: 1.5 hours
In person

What’s it about?

Solidarity is a journey into the unknown, an encounter that changes us; it always carries a utopian dimension and cannot exist without a certain degree of conflictual tension.

Solidarity is a bet on the future that involves a risk. And it is a necessity because it responds to a demand that cannot be rejected without betraying one’s own humanity. But what is it, then, that so often blocks the impulse towards solidarity, as we see in the current authoritarian lockdowns that show no mercy or turn a deaf ear, refusing any gesture of solidarity? And what keeps open the currents of solidarity that we see in the numerous outbursts of solidarity worldwide, which are capable of coalescing into a social movement across imposed dividing lines, thereby practically anticipating a different way of living together? In these instances, solidarity manifests itself as a movement of negation that betrays the prevailing order and rejects the identitarian pact. It yearns for the Other, the outcast, the oppressed … and makes room for the non-identical. It creates that on which it is itself dependent: an outstretched hand, a mutual connection, a supportive network. In this context, it is argued, being in solidarity does not mean ‘with my own kind’; it does not derive from close relationships and cannot be ‘generalised’ from there; it does not mean self-interest or loyalty, but can rather be understood as a love for those far away. The massive repressive crackdown, particularly against cross-border migration movements and cross-class uprisings such as the Iranian Revolution, as well as against the global resonance of ‘Jin, Jiyan, Azadî’, demonstrates that it is precisely these practices of forging bonds of kinship amongst those who are unequal that are capable of breaking down the prevailing boundaries. Together, let us consider practical examples that contradict the coldness of current conditions and make a utopian surplus tangible:

Neighbourhood mutual aid, which in the US has rapidly brought to light the vibrant networks within local communities; sea rescue operations; or the City Plaza Hotel in Athens – all of which disprove the cynical claim that there is no other way, or that it’s a case of ‘either/or’...

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Aim of this contribution

To argue together for a concept of solidarity and, above all, for a practice of solidarity that does not repeatedly fall into the trap of identity politics: using a practical example and with a desire for -> solidarity amongst those who are unequal, rather than fear of the ‘Other’