Law, Love and Responsibility: A Note on Solidarity in EU Law

Festskrift till Håkan Hydén. Edited by Reza Banakar, Karl Dahlstrand and Lotti Ryberg Welander. Lund: Juristförlaget. (2018) ISBN: 9789154405756.

13 Pages Posted: 12 Feb 2019

See all articles by Reza Banakar

Reza Banakar

Lund University - Sociology of Law

Date Written: December 31, 2018

Abstract

This paper argues that although solidarity was developed as a principle in EU law to enhance the unity and cooperation between the Member States, its viability at the transnational level remains ultimately a function of its efficacy at the micro level of EU citizens. The question at the core of this inquiry concerns, therefore, how micro and macro dimensions of solidarity are related to each other sociologically and what their relationship means for EU law and the EU’s integration policy. The paper begins by taking a closer look at how the notion of solidarity has been conceptualised within sociology and the sociology of law, before examining the role of solidarity in EU law and policy. It concludes by arguing that the crisis of solidarity must be reexamined in the context of the contradictory policies pursued by the EU which, on the one hand, promote social conflicts while, on the other hand, seek to stabilise social conditions by appealing to a European sense of solidarity. This turns the EU into a source of anxiety that generates a negative form of solidarity, one which is tribal in nature and lends itself easily to the populist tide of nationalism and fear that is currently sweeping across Europe.

Keywords: solidarity, EU law, identity politics, human rights, sociology of law, legal philosphy

JEL Classification: L49, N3, F6, K2

Suggested Citation

Banakar, Reza, Law, Love and Responsibility: A Note on Solidarity in EU Law (December 31, 2018). Festskrift till Håkan Hydén. Edited by Reza Banakar, Karl Dahlstrand and Lotti Ryberg Welander. Lund: Juristförlaget. (2018) ISBN: 9789154405756., Available at SSRN: https://ssrn.com/abstract=3327689

Reza Banakar (Contact Author)

Lund University - Sociology of Law ( email )

Lund
Sweden
0046 + 46 222 8753 (Phone)

HOME PAGE: https://www.soclaw.lu.se/en/reza-banakar

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