ABSTRACT
Fararo and Doreian’s essay (Chapter 1) presents solidarity as a construct that relates a number of different social phenomena, including empathic alignment of individuals, emergence of shared identity, and containment of members by a group that serves their needs. This note focusing just on the first of these phenomena extends some of their ideas in the context of the sociology of emotions. I will attempt to specify how specific events induce emergence of what I call “empathic solidarity.” This term is intended to combine the meaning of empathy – “Identification with and understanding of another’s situation, feelings, and motives; the attribution of one’s own feelings to an object” – and solidarity – “A union of interests, purposes, or sympathies among members of a group; fellowship of responsibilities and interests” (definitions from the American Heritage Dictionary).
