2026/01/05 by Barbara Prainsack · 1 voice · 1 citation
Computer Science · Social Sciences · #Digital Education and Society #Humanities and Social Sciences #Socio-political and Technological Issues
paper · doi:10.1093/9780198965336.001.0001
openalex created_date 2026/01/05 · openalex publication_date 2026/01/05 · openalex updated_date 2026/07/18
Abstract States of Solidarity: How to Build a Society argues that solidarity is essential for addressing the defining challenges of our time. While many societies engage in debates about justice and fair institutions, they have often failed to create the conditions for social and planetary flourishing. A key reason, this book contends, is the neglect of solidarity: the horizontal ties that bind people together beyond kinship, love, or friendship. Without this ‘social glue’, societies struggle with declining trust, eroded democratic legitimacy, and increasing social and political fragmentation. The book explores the concept of solidarity and its entanglement with justice, trust, and care. It then examines three major societal challenges—climate change, the loss of democratic control in economic governance, and the rise of artificial intelligence and digital infrastructures—through the lens of solidarity. Rather than offering merely new policy tools, this perspective reshapes the questions we ask and opens up new possibilities for action. Concluding with a vision for the ‘good state’ in the twenty-first century, the book makes a compelling case that solidarity is not a nostalgic ideal but a vital, generative force for democratic resilience and social cohesion in an age of uncertainty.