Dissertation

Solidarity for the Long Haul:

Beyond Identity, Beyond Reciprocity

What holds people together in struggles for justice? Not identity, not reciprocity, and not altruism. My dissertation argues that genuine political solidarity is a specific kind of co-creation. It arises when people, faced with a shared obstacle, build a common moral understanding of what they’re fighting for and against. This “double-mediation”—by the material obstacle and by the shared understanding—produces a form of cooperation I refer to as non-reciprocal mutuality. Solidarity is like an orchestra: different parts, one shared performance, no ledger of who owes whom.

Solidarity's non-reciprocal structure relies on the human craving for devotion (Katsafanas). By aligning our need for devotion with the ironic, playful commitment paradigmatic in solidarity, we can invest ourselves fully in a cause without becoming rigid or fanatical. Solidarity is necessarily transformative: we become, in part, who we are through the struggle(s)—the conflict with those opposed to the cause and the debate with comrades, while creating a shared moral understanding in solidarity.

I use this theory of solidarity to clarify philosophical confusions, showing that the standard bifurcation between “symmetric” (reciprocal) and “asymmetric” (non-reciprocal) solidarity is a myth. Most importantly, I distinguish solidarity from the dangerous look-alike, nationalism. Nationalism binds people through a narrative of shared identity, demanding exclusion. Solidarity bonds people through a shared cause, remaining impartial. The difference determines whether our collective power is liberatory or oppressive.

With my dissertation, I offer a theory of solidarity for building movements that are powerful, principled, and capable of the long-haul struggle.