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The Obstacles Faced by Solidarity
Hajra Jamil
Department of Psychology, Middle East Technical University
ENG 102: Development of Reading and Writing Skills 2
Instructor Demet Gür
June 10, 2023
, 2
The Obstacles Faced by Solidarity
As vindicated by Starhawk, an American feminist, and author, “Solidarity is
based on the principle that we are willing to put ourselves at risk to protect each
other”. Is it true, are we really willing to put ourselves at risk? Let’s think about it,
while we look into how this ideology emerged. (Bulled, 2023) Solidarity has a long
journey, it can be dated back to 1804 during the famous Napoleon’s statue book ‘code
civil’. Solidarity has been a changing concept since then like, during the French
Revolution it was highlighted in the visions of individuals without the presence of
formal government bodies. In the 1980’s it was used as a tool of unionization by
British miners and Polish dissidents. Most recently it has been used as a response to
the pouring refugees in Europe to show a form of humanitarian assistance. Putting it
all together Douwes et al. (2018) advocate, “solidarity emphasizes the
interdependence between individuals in a society which allows individuals to feel that
they can enhance the lives of others. It is a core principle of collective action and is
founded on shared values and beliefs among different groups in a society” (p.2).
Solidarity unites people on the basis of interests or objectives. Therefore, I strongly
disagree with Van de Sande that we cannot show solidarity to everyone as it faces
some obstacles such as inclusiveness, religion, and unprecedented times.
Van de Sande (2022) states solidarity brings about equality and unites people
despite differences. However, it faces challenges because of inclusiveness, as it is
overgeneralized or undergeneralized. As cited by Van de Sande (2022) that solidarity
should be shown without taking yourself into consideration. As he gives an example
of how inclusiveness in the Black Lives Matter campaign made the entire movement
The Obstacles Faced by Solidarity
Hajra Jamil
Department of Psychology, Middle East Technical University
ENG 102: Development of Reading and Writing Skills 2
Instructor Demet Gür
June 10, 2023
, 2
The Obstacles Faced by Solidarity
As vindicated by Starhawk, an American feminist, and author, “Solidarity is
based on the principle that we are willing to put ourselves at risk to protect each
other”. Is it true, are we really willing to put ourselves at risk? Let’s think about it,
while we look into how this ideology emerged. (Bulled, 2023) Solidarity has a long
journey, it can be dated back to 1804 during the famous Napoleon’s statue book ‘code
civil’. Solidarity has been a changing concept since then like, during the French
Revolution it was highlighted in the visions of individuals without the presence of
formal government bodies. In the 1980’s it was used as a tool of unionization by
British miners and Polish dissidents. Most recently it has been used as a response to
the pouring refugees in Europe to show a form of humanitarian assistance. Putting it
all together Douwes et al. (2018) advocate, “solidarity emphasizes the
interdependence between individuals in a society which allows individuals to feel that
they can enhance the lives of others. It is a core principle of collective action and is
founded on shared values and beliefs among different groups in a society” (p.2).
Solidarity unites people on the basis of interests or objectives. Therefore, I strongly
disagree with Van de Sande that we cannot show solidarity to everyone as it faces
some obstacles such as inclusiveness, religion, and unprecedented times.
Van de Sande (2022) states solidarity brings about equality and unites people
despite differences. However, it faces challenges because of inclusiveness, as it is
overgeneralized or undergeneralized. As cited by Van de Sande (2022) that solidarity
should be shown without taking yourself into consideration. As he gives an example
of how inclusiveness in the Black Lives Matter campaign made the entire movement
