Solidarity

Despite the frequency with which the word 'solidarity' is invoked - particularly with regard to the current global Occupy movement - the concept itself has rarely been the subject of close scrutiny. In this original and eye-opening work, David Featherstone redresses this situation by drawing on an innovative combination of archival research, oral histories and first-hand involvement with political movements.

Solidarity invokes a rich variety of case studies - from historical solidarities such as the anti-slavery and anti-fascism movements, right up to present day concerns such as climate change activism and the Coca-Cola boycott. In doing so, the book unearths international forms of solidarity which have all-too-often been marginalized by nation-centred histories of the left and social movements.

Wide-ranging and timely, Solidarity is a fascinating investigation of an increasingly vital subject.

Table of Contents

Introduction: Thinking Solidarity Politically

Section I: Theorizing Solidarity
1: Solidarity: Theorizing a Transformative Political Relation
2: Rethinking Internationalism

Section II: Colonial and Anti-Colonial Internationalisms
3: 'Labour with a white skin will never emancipate itself while labour with a black skin is in bondage': Maritime Labour and the Uses of Solidarity
4: 'Your Liberty and Ours': Black Internationalism and Anti-Fascism

Section III: Solidarity and Cold War Geo-politics
5: 'No Trade With the Junta': Political Exile and Solidarity after the Chilean Coup
6: Solidarities 'Beyond the Barbed Wire': The Campaign for European Nuclear Disarmament and Non-Aligned Internationalism

Section IV: Solidarity in the Shadow of Neo-Liberalism
7: 'Our Resistance is as Transnational as Capital': The Counter-Globalisation Movement and Pre-figurative Solidarity
8: 'If the Climate Were a Bank It Would be Bailed Out': Solidarity and the Making of Climate Justice

Conclusion: Solidarity Without Guarantees

References

About the Author:

David Featherstone is a Senior Lecturer in Human Geography at the University of Glasgow. He has key research interests in space, politics and resistance in both the past and present. He is the author of Resistance Space and Political: the Making of Counter-Global Networks and co-editor of Spatial Politics: Essays for Doreen Massey.