2 - Solidarity Between the National and the Transnational

Summary

Recently, people on both sides of the Atlantic have been wrestling with questions concerning the priority they should give residents of their own country versus distant others. In Europe, the issue of the acceptance and treatment of migrants from the Middle East and North Africa came to prominence. Likewise, in the USA, President Trump attempted to bar Muslims from entering the county, increased the deportation of undocumented migrants fleeing violence and hardship in Latin America and drastically cut the number of admissible refugees. The issue of priority to ‘countrymen’ has also arisen in debates about international trade, as well as in regard to foreign aid and the obligation to maintain regional and global alliances. These practical contexts raise questions of what we owe ‘outsiders’, whether they be distantly situated or attempting to migrate to our own or to a different state, and the conflicting solidarities. Should we always stand in solidarity with fellow citizens or other members of our own political communities, or should we equally prioritize solidarity with oppressed or suffering others outside our borders? In this chapter, I attempt to clarify these issues by analysing two main senses of solidarity and discussing the question of negotiating between them when they conflict.