TransSOL - Transnational solidarity and collective identities in the public sphere

Abstract

The economic crisis in Europe has placed solidarity at the top of public and policy agendas. But how strong is solidarity amongst Europeans, after almost 60 years of European integration? What do we know about beneficial and detrimental factors? And what should be done to safeguard or enhance European solidarity at the level of citizens, non-governmental organisations and policies? These and other questions were at the centre of TransSOL.

TransSOL was a transnational research project dedicated to providing systematic and practice-related knowledge about European solidarity at times of crisis. It brought together researchers and civil society practitioners from eight European countries—Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. The project started in June 2015 and ran until May 2018 (https://doi.org/10.3030/649435).

Work package 5 was devoted to the assessment and cross-country comparison of European solidarity in the public sphere. Here, the aim was to study public claims-making and the underlying ideas and norms of solidarity discussed in the mainstream mass media and online media. In particular, we sought to identify the extent to which European solidarity is granted public awareness and recognition, and what claims on behalf of or against European solidarity are made, and by whom. Moreover, we aimed to understand the discursive construction, reproduction or corrosion of European solidarity in all its contentiousness. Finally, we wished to show how claims and discourses about European solidarity are related to debates about European identities and cultures, and what effects contentions between various allegiances have. Findings helped to better understand if and to what extent public discourses, collective images and public opinions might have an inhibiting or beneficial impact on transnational solidarity at the individual and organisational levels.