
Solidarity
The Past, Present, and Future of a World-Changing Idea
Random House Inc (Publisher)
Published on 12. March 2024
Book
Hardback
432 pages
978-0-593-70124-9 (ISBN)
Description
A VULTURE BEST BOOK • From renowned organizers and activists Leah Hunt-Hendrix and Astra Taylor, comes the first in-depth examination of Solidarity—not just as a rallying cry, but as potent political movement with potential to effect lasting change.
A DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE FINALIST
“A window into what is possible when we reject the politics of division, trade individualism for interconnectedness and prioritize coming together for the greater good.”—Heather McGhee, author of The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone
"Reads at once like a moral treatise and a rallying manifesto, a call to reflect and lock arms.”—The Washington Post
Solidarity is often invoked, but it is rarely analyzed and poorly understood. Here, two leading activists and thinkers survey the past, present, and future of the concept across borders of nation, identity, and class to ask: how can we build solidarity in an era of staggering inequality, polarization, violence, and ecological catastrophe? Offering a lively and lucid history of the idea—from Ancient Rome through the first European and American socialists and labor organizers, to twenty-first century social movements like Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter—Hunt-Hendrix and Taylor trace the philosophical debates and political struggles that have shaped the modern world.
Looking forward, they argue that a clear understanding of how solidarity is built and sustained, and an awareness of how it has been suppressed, is essential to warding off the many crises of our present: right-wing backlash, irreversible climate damage, widespread alienation, loneliness, and despair. Hunt-Hendrix and Taylor insist that solidarity is both a principle and a practice, one that must be cultivated and institutionalized, so that care for the common good becomes the central aim of politics and social life.
A DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE FINALIST
“A window into what is possible when we reject the politics of division, trade individualism for interconnectedness and prioritize coming together for the greater good.”—Heather McGhee, author of The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone
"Reads at once like a moral treatise and a rallying manifesto, a call to reflect and lock arms.”—The Washington Post
Solidarity is often invoked, but it is rarely analyzed and poorly understood. Here, two leading activists and thinkers survey the past, present, and future of the concept across borders of nation, identity, and class to ask: how can we build solidarity in an era of staggering inequality, polarization, violence, and ecological catastrophe? Offering a lively and lucid history of the idea—from Ancient Rome through the first European and American socialists and labor organizers, to twenty-first century social movements like Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter—Hunt-Hendrix and Taylor trace the philosophical debates and political struggles that have shaped the modern world.
Looking forward, they argue that a clear understanding of how solidarity is built and sustained, and an awareness of how it has been suppressed, is essential to warding off the many crises of our present: right-wing backlash, irreversible climate damage, widespread alienation, loneliness, and despair. Hunt-Hendrix and Taylor insist that solidarity is both a principle and a practice, one that must be cultivated and institutionalized, so that care for the common good becomes the central aim of politics and social life.
More details
Language
English
Place of publication
New York
United States
Publishing group
Random House USA Inc
Dimensions
Height: 240 mm
Width: 161 mm
Thickness: 39 mm
Weight
670 gr
ISBN-13
978-0-593-70124-9 (9780593701249)
Copyright in bibliographic data and cover images is held by Nielsen Book Services Limited or by the publishers or by their respective licensors: all rights reserved.
Schweitzer Classification
Other editions
Additional editions

E-Book
03/2024
Pantheon
€6.49
Available for download
Persons
Leah Hunt-Hendrix and Astra Taylor
Content
Introduction xi
ONE The Orgins of a Debt 3
TWO Us vs. Them 33
THREE Power in Numbers 62
FOUR Divide and Conquer 93
FIVE The Problem with Charity 133
SIX A Solidarity State 179
SEVEN Solidarity Beyond Borders 223
EIGHT Solidarity and the Sacred 273
CONCLUSION The Virtues of Solidarity 305
Acknowledgments 315
Notes 319
Select Bibliography 347
Index 371
ONE The Orgins of a Debt 3
TWO Us vs. Them 33
THREE Power in Numbers 62
FOUR Divide and Conquer 93
FIVE The Problem with Charity 133
SIX A Solidarity State 179
SEVEN Solidarity Beyond Borders 223
EIGHT Solidarity and the Sacred 273
CONCLUSION The Virtues of Solidarity 305
Acknowledgments 315
Notes 319
Select Bibliography 347
Index 371