Solidarity ‘at work’ in times of change

Abstract

Transformations in the system of accumulation, production and consumption have threatened social solidarity as traditionally built on trade unions and political organisations. This chapter interrogates the impact of these transformations for ‘shifting solidarities’ in labour studies and illustrates potentially emerging ʼnew’ forms of labour solidarity. It uses an historical reconstruction of the social, political and economic forces in different nation states in Europe to shed light on how solidarity has been socially and institutionally embedded in distinctive (and path-dependent) ways in particular socio-institutional contexts, thereby highlighting the conditions underpinning solidarity. We indicate three conditions of existence of solidarity: a shared material context (which may bond work and community), an organisational structure and an institutional frame. These conditions frame the way in which shifting solidarities evolve.