4.5
Solidarity
ByPublisher Description
A VULTURE BEST BOOK • From renowned organizers and activists Leah Hunt-Hendrix and Astra Taylor, comes the first in-depth examination of Solidarity—not just as a rallying cry, but as potent political movement with potential to effect lasting change.
A DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE FINALIST
“A window into what is possible when we reject the politics of division, trade individualism for interconnectedness and prioritize coming together for the greater good.”—Heather McGhee, author of The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone
"Reads at once like a moral treatise and a rallying manifesto, a call to reflect and lock arms.”—The Washington Post
Solidarity is often invoked, but it is rarely analyzed and poorly understood. Here, two leading activists and thinkers survey the past, present, and future of the concept across borders of nation, identity, and class to ask: how can we build solidarity in an era of staggering inequality, polarization, violence, and ecological catastrophe? Offering a lively and lucid history of the idea—from Ancient Rome through the first European and American socialists and labor organizers, to twenty-first century social movements like Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter—Hunt-Hendrix and Taylor trace the philosophical debates and political struggles that have shaped the modern world.
Looking forward, they argue that a clear understanding of how solidarity is built and sustained, and an awareness of how it has been suppressed, is essential to warding off the many crises of our present: right-wing backlash, irreversible climate damage, widespread alienation, loneliness, and despair. Hunt-Hendrix and Taylor insist that solidarity is both a principle and a practice, one that must be cultivated and institutionalized, so that care for the common good becomes the central aim of politics and social life.
A DAYTON LITERARY PEACE PRIZE FINALIST
“A window into what is possible when we reject the politics of division, trade individualism for interconnectedness and prioritize coming together for the greater good.”—Heather McGhee, author of The Sum of Us: What Racism Costs Everyone
"Reads at once like a moral treatise and a rallying manifesto, a call to reflect and lock arms.”—The Washington Post
Solidarity is often invoked, but it is rarely analyzed and poorly understood. Here, two leading activists and thinkers survey the past, present, and future of the concept across borders of nation, identity, and class to ask: how can we build solidarity in an era of staggering inequality, polarization, violence, and ecological catastrophe? Offering a lively and lucid history of the idea—from Ancient Rome through the first European and American socialists and labor organizers, to twenty-first century social movements like Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter—Hunt-Hendrix and Taylor trace the philosophical debates and political struggles that have shaped the modern world.
Looking forward, they argue that a clear understanding of how solidarity is built and sustained, and an awareness of how it has been suppressed, is essential to warding off the many crises of our present: right-wing backlash, irreversible climate damage, widespread alienation, loneliness, and despair. Hunt-Hendrix and Taylor insist that solidarity is both a principle and a practice, one that must be cultivated and institutionalized, so that care for the common good becomes the central aim of politics and social life.
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Meet readers like you in the Fable For You feed, designed to build bookish communitiesSolidarity Reviews
4.5
“In an age defined by profound inequality, deep social fragmentation, and the mounting crises of climate, democracy, and human connection, Solidarity arrives as both a timely analysis and a call to arms, asking readers not simply to consider the idea of solidarity, but to inhabit it. Leah Hunt-Hendrix and Astra Taylor, each with deep roots in organizing, activism, and scholarship, have undertaken a project that is at once historical, philosophical, and profoundly practical: to trace the lineage of solidarity as an ethical principle, a political strategy, and a social practice, and to interrogate what it means to practice it in the modern world.
From the outset, the book situates solidarity in its historical origins, drawing lines from Roman legal concepts to nineteenth-century European social thought. Here, the reader encounters the earliest articulations of a principle that would both bind communities and challenge hierarchies. The authors trace the evolution of solidarity through the social upheavals of the Industrial Revolution, detailing how laborers and early social movements found in collective responsibility and mutual obligation a framework for both survival and transformation. The clarity with which Hunt-Hendrix and Taylor present these historical threads is remarkable: the reader moves from “obligatio in solidum” to Léon Bourgeois and the solidarist thinkers of France with a sense of continuity that underscores both the endurance and adaptability of solidarity as an idea. Yet the authors are careful not to romanticize the past; they situate each development within the power structures and inequalities of its moment, highlighting the tensions inherent in attempting to weave solidarity into societies organized around profit, hierarchy, and exclusion.
Chapter Two, “Us vs. Them,” reframes solidarity in a contemporary register, emphasizing that collective identification and moral alignment are never straightforward. The authors argue, persuasively, that solidarity is not synonymous with unity or consensus; it is not the absence of difference, but the recognition of it in pursuit of a shared purpose. By engaging deeply with movements such as the disability rights movement and contemporary economic justice campaigns, Hunt-Hendrix and Taylor illustrate how solidarity emerges in the crucible of conflict, requiring attention to both internal differences and external threats. There is an elegance here in the way the book navigates these complexities: solidarity is presented as simultaneously ethical, strategic, and contingent, a practice that demands conscious cultivation.
The discussion of collective power in Chapter Three, “Power in Numbers,” further situates solidarity as both a social ethic and a political instrument. Here, the book is at its most prescriptive, offering insights into the architecture of movements that effectively translate shared grievance into tangible change. Drawing on examples from labor organizing, Occupy Wall Street, and the Debt Collective, the authors show that identity, vision, and strategy are intertwined; solidarity cannot be summoned by rhetoric alone, nor can it survive without actionable frameworks for engagement. This chapter is both practical and inspirational, urging readers to imagine themselves not as passive consumers of justice, but as participants in the architecture of social transformation. It is in this chapter that the text most palpably demonstrates its contemporary relevance: the theoretical and historical threads woven in earlier chapters find practical expression in strategies that can shape political and social outcomes today.
Yet the book is also unflinching about the obstacles to building solidarity. In “Divide and Conquer,” Hunt-Hendrix and Taylor trace the myriad tactics employed by elites to fragment communities, from historical examples of slavery and colonization to modern corporate and political strategies that exploit fear, competition, and social hierarchies. Here, the book achieves a level of critical sophistication that is rare in activist-oriented texts: it does not merely celebrate solidarity but interrogates the forces arrayed against it, teaching readers that cultivating collective power is as much about understanding opposition as it is about building cohesion. This critical lens is essential; it situates solidarity not as an abstract virtue, but as a site of ongoing struggle, requiring strategy, education, and vigilance.
“The Problem with Charity,” Chapter Five, extends this critical analysis into the terrain of philanthropy and aid. Hunt-Hendrix and Taylor argue that conventional models of charity often undermine solidarity by reinforcing dependency and perpetuating hierarchies, even as they provide temporary relief. By contrast, strategic, movement-aligned philanthropy can amplify collective power without compromising autonomy or agency. Through examples such as Solidaire and Way to Win, the authors demonstrate that solidarity is not only a grassroots phenomenon but also a framework for ethically mobilizing resources in support of systemic change. This discussion, while densely argued, is compelling, offering a roadmap for activists and funders alike who wish to navigate the ethical complexities of support and power.
In “A Solidarity State,” the authors extend their argument to governance, imagining a model of the state that embeds solidarity into institutions, policies, and social systems. The chapter challenges conventional liberal welfare models, presenting a vision of participatory governance, equitable rights and duties, and care-oriented policymaking. It is here that the text articulates a bold normative argument: solidarity should be institutionalized, not merely practiced in movements or voluntary networks. By situating the state as a site for cultivating collective responsibility, Hunt-Hendrix and Taylor expand the scale of solidarity from the interpersonal and communal to the national and systemic.
Chapter Seven, “Solidarity Beyond Borders,” brings the analysis to a global frame, demonstrating how contemporary crises—climate change, economic inequality, pandemics—demand transnational approaches. Through historical and contemporary examples, from anti-colonial movements to climate justice campaigns, the authors show that solidarity is not only ethical or strategic but also global. The chapter emphasizes accountability, respect for local knowledge, and cross-cultural coalition-building as prerequisites for effective transnational solidarity. Here, the book reminds readers that the challenges of solidarity are both practical and moral: it is not enough to recognize interdependence; one must also negotiate complexity, difference, and power on a planetary scale.
“Solidarity and the Sacred,” Chapter Eight, situates the discussion in moral and cultural terms, arguing that solidarity requires a shared sense of what is valued and revered in society. Drawing on Durkheim and Freire, Hunt-Hendrix and Taylor highlight the interplay between ethical commitments, social rituals, and institutional practices. Modern society, they argue, often treats wealth, status, and power as sacred, undermining collective bonds. Transformative solidarity, in contrast, requires cultivating a culture in which mutual responsibility, care, and justice are central. By linking values to practice, the authors demonstrate that solidarity is both existential and practical, an ethic embedded in everyday life as well as movements and institutions.
The conclusion, “The Virtues of Solidarity,” synthesizes the book’s lessons, emphasizing courage, commitment, curiosity, and humility as core qualities necessary to sustain transformative solidarity. Here, the text is at its most reflective, urging readers to integrate the principles of solidarity into their personal, social, and civic lives. It is a call not merely to understand solidarity but to live it, to recognize interdependence, and to act in ways that build long-term, equitable, and just communities.
Overall, Solidarity succeeds in bridging historical scholarship, ethical reflection, and practical guidance. It offers a deeply informed, nuanced, and urgent account of what solidarity has been, what it can be, and how it can be practiced at multiple scales—from neighborhoods to nations to the global community. Hunt-Hendrix and Taylor do not offer simplistic solutions; they offer a framework for thought and action, recognizing the tensions, challenges, and potential of collective life. The book is intellectually rigorous yet accessible, historically rich yet forward-looking, and morally compelling without lapsing into abstraction.
For readers willing to engage with its density, Solidarity provides a roadmap for understanding and cultivating one of the most consequential ideas of our time. It challenges, inspires, and equips, offering both an analytical lens and a practical guide for building social, political, and global communities grounded in mutual care and responsibility. While some sections are necessarily dense and the application of these principles can be challenging in practice, the book’s overall impact is profound: it reframes how we think about social bonds, power, and responsibility in the contemporary world.
Rating: 82/100”
About Leah Hunt-Hendrix
LEAH HUNT-HENDRIX was born and raised in New York City. She has a PhD in Religion, Ethics, and Politics from Princeton University where she wrote her dissertation on the Ethics of Solidarity. Leah has founded multiple organizations that have impacted the American politicallandscape. In 2012, she co-founded Solidaire, a national network of philanthropists dedicated to funding progressive movements, and in 2017, she co-founded Way to Win, a network with a similar structure, this time dedicated to electoral strategy. Both organizations are grounded in building solidarity between major donors and grassroots organizing.
ASTRA TAYLOR is cofounder of the Debt Collective, a union of debtors. She is the director of numerous documentaries and the author of The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together as Things Fall Apart, Democracy May Not Exist But We’ll Miss It When It’s Gone, and The People’s Platform (winner of an American Book Award), among other works. Her writing has appeared in periodicals including The New Yorker, The New York Times, n+1, and The Baffler. She is an advisor to Lux Magazine and is on the editorial board of Hammer & Hope. She was the 2023 CBC Massey Lecturer.
ASTRA TAYLOR is cofounder of the Debt Collective, a union of debtors. She is the director of numerous documentaries and the author of The Age of Insecurity: Coming Together as Things Fall Apart, Democracy May Not Exist But We’ll Miss It When It’s Gone, and The People’s Platform (winner of an American Book Award), among other works. Her writing has appeared in periodicals including The New Yorker, The New York Times, n+1, and The Baffler. She is an advisor to Lux Magazine and is on the editorial board of Hammer & Hope. She was the 2023 CBC Massey Lecturer.
Other books by Leah Hunt-Hendrix
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