In this thought-provoking essay, Martina Tazzioli and William Walters argue that the political concept of solidarity is under-theorised in the academy, particularly as compared to concepts such as justice, equality, citizenship, equality. But in calling for a sharper ‘analytics of solidarity’ they are clear that theory must be informed by practice and that the perspectives of those struggling for migrant and refugee rights in a ‘new era of protest’ are key. By interrogating solidarity within the migration context, they show how the bounded and bordered nature of top-down solidarity, as institutionalised both in EU declarations, charters and policies and the more recent state-model of ‘good refugee hosting’, divides citizen from foreigner, betraying universal values. They contrast the branded ‘paternalistic humanitarianism’ favoured by the European Commission, with the bottom-up internationalist (and therefore anti-racist) solidarity of Europe’s citizens’ initiative of solidarity practices at the French-Italian frontier as a case study.
Is the European Union (EU) in a state of crisis? Over recent years, a series of systemic and spontaneous challenges, including Brexit, the rise of Euroscepticism and the Eurozone and refugee crises, have manifested in landmark moments for European integration.First published as a special issue of the journal Global Discourse, this edited collection investigates whether these crises are isolated phenomena or symptoms of a deeper malaise across the EU. Experts from across disciplines analyse and rethink the forces which pull Europeans together, as well as those which push them apart.Is the European Union (EU) in a state of crisis? Over recent years, a series of systemic and spontaneous challenges, including Brexit, the rise of Euroscepticism and the Eurozone and refugee crises, have manifested in landmark moments for European integration.First published as a special issue of the journal Global Discourse, this edited collection investigates whether these crises are isolated phenomena or symptoms of a deeper malaise across the EU. Experts from across disciplines analyse and rethink the forces which pull Europeans together, as well as those which push them apart.Over recent years, a series of challenges including Brexit and the rise of Euroscepticism, have manifested in landmark moments for European integration. First published as a special issue of Global Discourse, this edited collection investigates whether these crises are isolated phenomena or symptoms of a deeper malaise across the EU.