15501

Contentious Solidarities

Jannis Julien Grimm

Kommentar

In an increasingly interconnected world, acts of solidarity across social, cultural, and national boundaries are indispensable in addressing violence, oppression, and injustice. However, the dynamics of solidarity are rarely straightforward; they often entail tensions, hierarchies, and contradictions. This seminar aims to critically interrogate the nuanced and occasionally paradoxical ways in which individuals and movements express empathy and enact solidarity with victims of violence. It seeks to explore the intersections and disjunctures within solidarities, examining how one struggle’s contentious space can serve as a platform for amplifying analogous struggles, while also analyzing how solidarities may engender hierarchies that privilege certain victims over others. These questions are acutely relevant to ongoing conflicts in Sudan, Myanmar, Palestine/Israel, or Ukraine, where stark disparities in empathy and solidarity highlight the divergence between global and local responses to suffering. In the context of Gaza, these disparities are particularly pronounced, reflecting entrenched narratives and hierarchies that determine whose humanity is recognized and whose suffering is acknowledged. But they are also key to understanding struggles for recognition, retribution, and restitution, including those by illegalized migrants, survivors of war crimes, victims of racism and discrimination, and marginalized communities affected by the effects of climate change. Against this backdrop, this seminar aims at reconstructing the concept of social and political solidarity from both theoretical and empirical perspectives and discusses its dimensions, functions and boundaries, as well as the conditions of its inception and strengthening. It is situated at the intersection of conflict studies as well as social movement theory. Prior knowledge of these debates as well as personal experiences in solidarity movements are not required but welcome. The course combines text discussions with films and more participatory formats. But it also requires an real willingness to complete (sometimes demanding but always inspiring!) reading requirements. Each session involves, at least, two required readings—one that conceptualizes solidarity in a distinct way, and one covering a specific case study of solidarity practices. Schließen

13 Termine

Regelmäßige Termine der Lehrveranstaltung

Fr, 10:00 - 12:00 13 Termine

Fr, 25.04.2025 10:00 - 12:00

Dozenten:
Dr. Jannis Julien Grimm