Solidarity: A Normative Principle

European Monograph Series Volume #116

Solidarity is a first-of-its-kind vital book depicting how solidarity may be – should be – conceived as a normative principle with pressing legal content, instrumental to the realisation of the social ends of today’s democratic polities. The term solidarity has acquired a commendable meaning of mutual responsibility, yet remains suspect because it has been invoked in too broad a spectrum of cultural contexts, ranging from fascist ideology to human rights.

What’s in this book:

The author documents an in-depth analysis of the interweaving of legal norms with social ideas and values, focusing on the use of the principle of solidarity in the European Union’s bodies and its Member States. Following are the detailed examinations of how the principle appears in such realms:

• national constitutions;
• welfare systems;
• regulation of contracts;
• social effects of legal rules;
• women’s rights;
• the social market economy;
• the social doctrine of the Catholic Church;
• affirmation of corporate social responsibility; and
• sustainability and corporate governance.

The author elucidates how each context contributes to a meaningful elaboration of the concept of solidarity, thus synthesising and extending prior work on the subject.

How this will help you:

Following Kant’s dictum that the solidarity of mankind is a ‘to be or not to be; a matter of life or death’, in today's trying and calamitous times, it is pertinent to rethink the principle of solidarity as the reason for living, living fully and not just surviving, in a social agglomeration we call a community. Decoding solidarity in order to fully understand its potentialities, misrepresentations, and mystifications has, therefore, become a task entrusted to jurists. Consequently, this nonpareil book will be highly appreciated by lawyers, judges, and policymakers, all of whose professions demand authoritative knowledge of the legal relations among individuals and legal entities.