ABSTRACT
‘Solidarity’ is one of the most commonly used terms in social justice movements and activist milieus and yet its meaning, for many, is evocative and aspirational rather than specific and contextual. Indeed, even in social movement studies, the term is often treated as a social fact that is present or absent rather than as relational phenomenon that is always in process and never finished. Drawing on some of the best scholar-activist work on the topic, this entry argues that solidarity is a transformative relationship that is always in the process of being worked out by the parties who lay claim to it, rather than an act or a status that simply exists or does not. Looking at examples both contemporary and historical, this entry demonstrates the ways that social movements, those who make them up, and those who study them have sought to materialize solidaristic relations as a critical step to building grassroots power and transforming intolerable and unjust social conditions. This entry also explores the media channels through which activists and organizers have sought to build, express, and circulate solidaristic relationships with others in struggle. Finally, it examines the consequences of the difficult work of forging solidarity between disparate actors engaged in social justice struggle and the possibilities and barriers to it.
