Inspired by Lipset and Rokkan's work on social groups shaping party conflicts, this article examines how parties interpret solidarity in modern political contexts. While globalization creates conflicting frames for preserving solidarity, there is no unified framework to analyze these approaches. The authors introduce a Durkheimian model focusing on the integrative pole of conflict-integration dynamics.
Party Frames for Solidarity
The study proposes four distinct solidarity frames: group-based, compassionate, exchange-based, and empathic. Tested through content analysis of Flanders party manifestos (a region with fragmented parties), findings suggest partisan competition increasingly centers on differing interpretations of solidarity.
Why It Matters
This Durkheimian approach demonstrates growing political relevance for understanding how parties frame social cohesion during periods of economic and cultural openness, aligning deductive insights with inductive expert-based research.
| It's All About Solidarity Stupid! How Solidarity Frames Structure the Party Political Sphere was authored by Peter Thijssen and Pieter Verheyen. It was published by Cambridge in BJPS in 2022. |
