Solidarity in Europe: the History of an Idea
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Solidarity in Europe Solidarity in Europe is a comprehensive study of the idea of solidarity from the early nineteenth century to the present day. It covers social and political theory, Protestant and Catholic social ethics and the develop- ment of the concept of solidarity in eight European nations – Germany, United Kingdom, France, Italy, Spain, Sweden, Norway and Denmark. Steinar Stjernø examines how solidarity has been defined, and how this definition has changed since the early nineteenth century. He analyses different aspects of solidarity: what is the foundation of solidarity? Is it personal or common interest, ‘sameness’, altruism, religion, empathy or cognition? What is the goal of solidarity? How inclusive should it be? The book also compares the different concepts of solidarity in social democratic, Christian democratic, communist and fascist parties. Ø is Professor of Social Work and Social Policy at Oslo University College. He has published a range of books on poverty, social welfare agencies and social policy. Solidarity in Europe The History of an Idea Steinar Stjernø Cambridge, New York, Melbourne, Madrid, Cape Town, Singapore, São Paulo Cambridge University Press The Edinburgh Building, Cambridge ,UK Published in the United States of America by Cambridge University Press, New York www.cambridge.org Information on this title: www.cambridg e.org /9780521843942 © Steinar Stjernø 2004 This book is in copyright. Subject to statutory exception and to the provision of relevant collective licensing agreements, no reproduction of any part may take place without the written permission of Cambridge University Press. 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Contents List of tables page viii Acknowledgements x List of abbreviations xii Introduction: to study the idea of solidarity1 The study of ideas3 The contribution of this book8 Method and material: parties and programmes 10 Aspects of solidarity 16 Previous research 19 Guidance for the reader 21 Part I Three traditions of solidarity 1 Solidarity in classic social theory 25 Prelude: from fraternity to Charles Fourier and Pierre Leroux 26 Comte: time, continuity and interdependence 30 Durkheim: social norms and shared values 33 Max Weber: solidarity in social relations 37 The discourse in the development of social theory in the early days of sociology 39 2 Politics: solidarity from Marx to Bernstein 42 Marxism: Karl Marx 43 The road to revisionism and social democratic theory: Karl Kautsky 47 Revisionist theories of solidarity: Eduard Bernstein and Ernst Wigforss 49 Austro-Marxism: a third alternative? 52 Leninism 53 Anarchism: Bakunin 57 Conclusion: Marxist, Leninist and social democratic solidarity 58 v vi Contents 3 Religion: solidarity in Catholicism and Protestantism 60 Catholicism 62 Protestantism 75 Conclusion: concepts of solidarity in social theory, socialist theory and religion 85 Part II The idea of solidarity in politics in Western Europe 4 European variations of solidarity discourses in social democracy 93 The First International 96 Germany: a model, but a late-comer 97 Discourses on solidarity in Scandinavian social democracy 109 United Kingdom: an anomaly of European social democracy? 132 Solidarity in Southern European socialism 144 A preliminary conclusion: three clusters of solidarity discourses 163 5 A comparative perspective on social democratic solidarity 165 Periodisation of solidarity discourses 165 The transitional phase of socialist solidarity 169 The introduction of a social democratic concept 170 The foundation and the objective 184 The collective and the individual 186 The establishment of a language of solidarity 189 The challenges of the 1980s 192 A period of ideological and political uncertainty 193 Discussion: structural and political context variables 194 A history of differences and convergence 196 Conclusion: the modern concept of solidarity 199 6 The great challenger: the Christian democratic idea of solidarity 203 Germany: Zentrum and CDU 205 Italy: Christian democracy from birth to hegemony to dissolution 217 Norway: Christian politics from pietism to Christian democracy 230 Conclusion: Christian democratic vs. social democratic solidarity 239 7 The languages of modern social democratic and Christian democratic solidarity 245 The modern social democratic language 245 The Christian democratic language 248 Competing languages? 250 Convergence, but still differences 251 The advantages of a language of solidarity 252 Some problems 257 Social democratic and Christian democratic solidarity in the twenty-first century 259 Contents vii 8 Two excursions: Marxist–Leninist and fascist solidarity 265 Marxist–Leninist solidarity 265 Fascism: solidarity with the nation – against other nationalities and ethnic groups 278 Part III The present precariousness of solidarity 9 Solidarity in modern social philosophy and Christian ethics 287 Modern social theory 288 Socialist, left-wing and critical theory 299 Modern Catholic and Protestant theology on solidarity 311 Conclusion 317 10 Epilogue: hope and challenges – individualisation, consumerism and globalisation 327 First concern: the class foundation of solidarity 327 Second concern: individualism 333 Third concern: consumerism 336 Fourth concern: does the welfare state undermine solidarity? 338 Fifth concern: the ambiguous phenomenon of globalisation 342 Parties or social movements as carriers of solidarity? 344 Global citizenship – global ethics? 348 References Documents 353 Literature 363 Index 384 Tables 0.1 Examples of how different aspects of solidarity may be configured page 18 1.1 Fourier’s and Leroux’s conception of solidarity 30 1.2 Durkheim’s mechanical and organic conceptions of solidarity 36 1.3 Weber’s conception of solidarity 38 1.4 Conceptions of solidarity in classic sociology 40 2.1 Marx’s two ideas of solidarity 47 2.2 Kautsky’s idea of solidarity 48 2.3 Revisionism: Bernstein’s view of solidarity 51 2.4 The Leninist conception of solidarity 55 2.5 Aspects of solidarity in socialist theory 58 3.1 The Catholic concept of solidarity 73 3.2 A Lutheran concept of solidarity 83 3.3 Concepts of solidarity in social theory, socialist theory and Catholic social ethics 86 4.1 A productivist concept of solidarity 120 4.2 The solidarists’ conception of solidarity 148 5.1 The institutionalisation of a social democratic language of solidarity in party programmes 167 5.2 Solidarity between the working class and other classes as a theme in party programmes 175 5.3 Gender emancipation formulated as a question of solidarity in party programmes 179 5.4 Solidarity with the Third World introduced in programmes 182 5.5 Ecology, future generations and ethnic groups included in the concept of solidarity in party programmes 183 5.6 The relationship between individual and collective in social democratic platforms and programmes 187 5.7 The Marxist, classic and modern concept of social democratic solidarity 200 viii List of tables ix 6.1 Different themes regarded as a question of solidarity in Christian democratic programmes 241 6.2 The Christian democratic concept of solidarity 242 7.1 Basic concepts in the political language of modern social democracy and Christian democracy 247 8.1 The fascist concept of solidarity 282 9.1 Aspects of solidarity in modern social theory 318 9.2 Solidaristic attitudes and institutions 322 10.1 Subjective class identification. Percent saying that they belong to different social classes 329 Abbreviations ATTAC The International movement for democratic control of financial markets and their institutions CCD Italian Christian Democratic Centre CDU German Christian Democratic Party CDU Italian United Christian Democrats CPSU Communist Party of the Soviet Union CSU German Christian Social Union (associated with the CDU) DC Italian Christian Democrats DNA Norwegian Labour Party DS Democrats of the Left (previously PCI and PDS) FDP German Free Democratic Party FI Forza Italia (Onward Italy) ICFTU International Confederation of Free Trade Unions KrF Christian People’s Party LO Trade Union Congress (Norway and Sweden) MRP French Republican People’s Movement NATO North Atlantic Treaty Organisation NGO Non-governmental organisations NKP Norwegian Communist Party NPM New Public Management OECD Organisation for Economic Development and Cooperation PCE Spanish Communist Party PCF French Communist Party PCI Italian Communist Party PDS Italian Party of the Democratic Left (previously PCI) PP Spanish People’s Party PPI Italian People’s Party PS French Socialist Party PSI Italian Socialist Party PSOE Spanish Socialist Workers’ Party xii List of abbreviations xiii SAP Swedish Labour Party SFIO The French Section of the International Labour (later French Socialist Party) SPD German Social Democratic Party SPO¨ Austrian Social Democratic Party SV Norwegian Socialist Left Party UNICEF United Nations International Children’s Fund US United States USPD German Socialist Unity Party WHO World Health Organization WTO World Trade Organization Introduction: to study the idea of solidarity There are many reasons for studying the idea of solidarity. Early social philosophers and sociologists in the nineteenth century observed that traditional