... In a mad fit of helpfulness, I put together this review of the concept of 'solidarity,' in case you need to review it for the midterm.

What is Solidarity?

There are five basic elements to a definition of solidarity.

Solidarity is a feeling of unity and kinship with others.

Everyone has experienced solidarity with those whose lives are like ours: our classmates, teammates, colleagues, friends and families. It is easy to have solidarity with people who are “like us.” One of the basic principles of many religious traditions is the assumption that every human being is called to solidarity, not only with those who are like us, but also with those whose lives are very unlike ours.

Solidarity requires that we try to learn about and understand others.

It can be difficult for people to find a way to express solidarity with people whose lives they do not understand. Learning about others’ lives, their worldview, their experiences, is a critical part of developing solidarity.

Solidarity is about action.

Once we learn about and understand the lives of others, we begin to see their sufferings, their oppression and their struggles more clearly. For those of us who live lives of more freedom and less suffering, we experience this growing awareness as a choice: to help, or not? Solidarity requires that, once we know about the suffering of others, we do something to act upon that knowledge, something to help.

Solidarity is not the same as charity.

There are many ways to help intervene in the suffering of others. One obvious way to help is by meeting immediate, concrete human needs such as food, shelter, clean water, medical care, clothing and education. For the many, many people who depend on such charity, it is essential for life, and must always be the first response to suffering. However, charity is a top-down model, unlike solidarity, which operates on a model of equality and shared struggle. Charity is mainly about redistributing resources, not restructuring injustice. Charity asks, “how can my abundance help relieve your suffering?” Solidarity asks, “what or who has caused your suffering, and how can we be a part of your work to change this situation?”

Solidarity is about justice.

The more we attempt to experience solidarity with people who are suffering, the more clearly we see the unjust structures and systems that create and perpetuate their suffering. These structures are generally supported on the pillars of greed, violence, racism, and fear (among others). No system built on these pillars can be just; therefore, it is in the interest of all people of conscience to work together to dismantle them. Solidarity in action, therefore, is not only about helping people who are harmed by the unjust system; it is about attempting to rebuild the system in ways that respect all people’s rights and dignity.

Here is a case study that serves as an example of solidarity work.

The situation:

Workers in a factory in Colombia attempt to form a labor union in order to negotiate for a living wage, safe working conditions, and an end to abusive treatment of the women and men who work in the factory. Soon after they begin organizing, the organizers are fired. Their families are then visited by paramilitary groups who threaten them with death if they do not stop their organizing. The organizers are forced to take their families and flee the area for their safety.

Charity might respond to this situation by (for example):

Offering money, food, and shelter to the families who have been displaced
Giving material support and free education to the children of these families

Solidarity might respond to this situation by (for example):

FIRST asking the organizers: as residents of North America, how can we help you in your struggles? Then, based on their response, doing some or all of the following:
Writing letters to civil authorities in Colombia urging them to force the factory owners to respect human and labor rights
Urging lawmakers in Colombia to pass stricter laws protecting the rights of workers
Urging lawmakers in the U.S. to bring political pressure to bear on the factory owners through trade agreements and other means
Sending volunteer peacemakers or delegations into the area to accompany the organizers and their families in order to serve as human shields and witnesses, to help protect them from direct violence
Asking, “What does this factory make? Who is buying their product?” then calling for boycotts, letter-writing campaigns or other market-based actions to raise awareness of labor abuses and to force the factory to respect labor rights
Asking, “Who is paying and arming the paramilitaries who are threatening these workers?” then trying to end the use of coercive violence to silence workers.
Any number of other creative actions to stand with the workers at the factory.

The moral of this (hypothetical, but unfortunately all too common) story is this: even though most of us might not work in a factory or belong to a union or know anybody from Colombia, our desire for human solidarity compels us to do what we can to help promote justice in this situation.