In many countries, particularly in the Global North, established forms of solidarity within communities are said to be challenged by the increasing ethnic and cultural diversity of the population. Against the backdrop of renewed geopolitical tensions – which inflate and exploit ethno-cultural, rather than political-economic cleavages – concerns are raised that ethnic and cultural diversity challenge both the formal mechanisms of redistribution and informal acts of charity, reciprocity and support which underpin common notions of community.
This book focuses on the innovative forms of solidarity that develop around the joint appropriation and the envisaged common future of specific places. Drawing on examples from schools, streets, community centres, workplaces, churches, housing projects and sporting projects, it provides an alternative research agenda from the 'loss of community' narrative. It reflects on the different spatiotemporal frames in which solidarities are nurtured, the connections forged between solidarity and citizenship, and the role of interventions by professionals to nurture solidarity in diversity.
This timely and original work will be essential reading for those working in human geography, sociology, ethnic studies, social work, urban studies, political studies and cultural studies.
Stijn Oosterlynck is Associate Professor in Urban Sociology at the University of Antwerp, Belgium.
Nick Schuermans is a postdoctoral researcher at the Centre on Inequalities, Poverty, Social Exclusion and the City of the University of Antwerp and a teaching associate at the geography department of the Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium.
Maarten Loopmans is Associate Professor at the Division of Geography at KU Leuven, Belgium.