Sticking Together Or Falling Apart: Solidarity in an Era of Individualization and Globalization

246 Pages·2009·2.3 MB·English

by  Paul de Beer

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y and Identit Paul de Beer is Henri Polak professor of Industrial relations at the olidarity and ferry koster olidarity
darit University of Amsterdam. Ferry Koster is postdoctoral researcher at Iden an
Soli Leiden University. Both are affiliated with the Amsterdam Institute tity d I
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for Advanced Labour Studies (AIAS). e
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Conventional wisdom says that social solidarity in the Western world is t
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crumbling. The trends of individualization and globalization are said
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to erode the willingness of citizens to support each other and to coop- i
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erate for the common good. Sticking Together or Falling Apart: Solidarity g

in an Era of Individualization and Globalization scrutinizes these claims, T
both theoretically and empirically. It focuses on informal solidarity, o
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such as volunteering, charitable giving, and informal care, as well as
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on formal solidarity, such as social benefits and development aid. The
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book examines the theoretical arguments that increasing competition e
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and capital flows between countries and growing selfishness of mod-
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ern citizens hurt social solidarity. Empirically, it is the first thorough r

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study of international comparative data on solidarity, globalization
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and individualization, leading to the conclusion that, overall, solidarity l
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is rising rather than declining. The impact of globalization and indi-
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vidualization is much more ambiguous than is often contended. While g

particular aspects of globalization and individualization might harm A
Sticking Together or
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solidarity, other elements foster solidarity instead.
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aup_debeer_DEF.indd 1 27-07-2009 15:44:28
StickingTogetherorFallingApart?
SOLIDARITY AND IDENTITY
Inthepastdecadesseverallarge-scalesocial,culturalandeconom-
icdevelopmentshaveoccurred.Processesofeconomicrestructur-
ing (de-industrialization) have brought into existence new cate-
gories of unemployed people; the process of individualization is
manifested in increased individual independence, a growing
senseof personal rights,and– possibly– ina growingopposition
between self-interest and civil virtues; the increased world-wide
mobility of people, commodities, services, money and informa-
tion – globalization – has far-reaching consequences for the way
individualcitizensarelivingandexperiencingtheirlives.Contem-
porary society is characterized by cultural and ethnic diversity.
People’ssocialandculturalidentitieshavebecomemorevaried.
What are the consequences of these developments for the way
people form social bonds and experience mutual solidarity in our
society? Is there any empirical support for the widespread idea
that social solidarity is declining? Which social domains – care,
volunteer work, living together in old city quarters, relations be-
tween family members, neighbors, friends, etcetera – are the
most vulnerable for a potential decay of solidarity? What is the
role of familism and within-group solidarity among immigrant
communities? Which new challenges are brought about by the
multiculturalsocietyintermsofnewformsofculturalexpression,
new(group)identities,newalliances,newinstitutions,newforms
of formal and informal support? These and similar questions are
thethemeoftheseriesSolidarityandIdentity.
editors ofthe series
Prof.dr.J.Burgers,FacultyofSocialSciences,ErasmusUniversity
Rotterdam
Prof.J.C.Rath,InstituteforMigrationandEthnicStudiesUniver-
sityofAmsterdam
Sticking Together or
Falling Apart?
Solidarity in an Era of
Individualization and Globalization
Paul de Beer and Ferry Koster
Coverillustration:Party(1986),Oiloncanvas,byTheol’Herminez
Coverdesign:Neon,designandcommunications,SabineMannel
Layout:JAPES,Amsterdam
ISBN 9789089641281
e-ISBN 9789048510528
NUR 759
© Paul de Beer and Ferry Koster / Amsterdam University Press,
Amsterdam2009
Allrightsreserved.Withoutlimitingtherightsundercopyrightreservedabove,no
partofthisbookmaybereproduced,storedinorintroducedintoaretrievalsys-
tem,ortransmitted,inanyformorbyanymeans(electronic,mechanical,photo-
copying,recordingorotherwise)withoutthewrittenpermissionofboththecopy-
rightownerandtheauthorofthebook.
Table of Contents
1 Individualization,globalizationandsolidarity 9
2 Takingcareofeachother
Trendsinsocialsolidarity 15
2.1 Whatissocialsolidarity? 15
2.1.1 Socialsolidarity,socialcohesionandsocialcapital 16
2.1.2 Attitudesandactsofsolidarity 18
2.1.3 Actsofsolidarity 18
2.1.4 Attitudesofsolidarity 23
2.2 Theactualstateofsocialsolidarity 24
2.3 Trendsinsocialsolidarity 35
2.4 Conclusion 39
3 Altruismorself-interest?
Solidarityandthewelfarestate 41
3.1 Whatisthewelfarestate? 41
3.2 Thesolidarityofthewelfarestate 42
3.3 Whatmotivatesthewelfarestate? 44
3.4 Publicsupportforthewelfarestate 47
3.5 Thewelfarestateasasourceofsolidarity 49
3.6 Conclusion 50
4 Fallingapart?
Themanymeaningsofindividualization 53
4.1 Whatisindividualization? 54
4.2 Methodology:howtotestforindividualization? 57
4.3 Isthereaprocessofindividualizationgoingon? 59
4.4 Conclusion 63
AppendixtoChapter4 66
5 Independentyetsolidary
Theimpactofindividualizationonsolidarity 71
5.1 Sociologicaltheoryandtherelationshipbetween
individualizationandsolidarity 73
5.1.1 Mechanismsofsolidarity 73
5
5.1.2 Howdoesindividualizationaffectsolidarity? 79
5.2 Methodanddata 83
5.3 Therelationshipbetweenindividualizationandsolidarity
atthecountrylevel 86
5.4 Therelationshipbetweenindividualizationandsolidarity
attheindividualandthecountrylevels 89
5.5 Conclusions 91
AppendixtoChapter5 94
6 Aborderlessworld?
Developmentsinglobalization,1970-2005 101
6.1 Whatisglobalization? 102
6.1.1 Adefinitionofglobalization 105
6.1.2 Explanationsofglobalization 108
6.2 Measuringtheopennessofcountries 114
6.2.1 Developmentsinglobalization 116
6.2.2 Thetenmostopencountries 118
6.3 Conclusions 121
7 Threatsandopportunities
Theimpactofglobalizationonthewelfarestate 125
7.1 Economicopenness 126
7.1.1 Hypotheses 126
7.1.2 Results 131
7.2 Socialandpoliticalopenness 139
7.2.1 Theories 139
7.2.2 Findings 142
7.3 Conclusions 153
AppendixtoChapter7:Empiricalstudies 155
8 Globalizationversuslocalisation
Therelationshipbetweenopennessandsolidarity 157
8.1 Opennessandsolidarity 159
8.1.1 Theory 159
8.1.2 Dataandanalyses 165
8.1.3 Results 170
8.2 Opennessandtheorganizationofsolidarity 175
8.2.1 Theory 176
8.2.2 Dataandanalyses 182
8.2.3 Results 183
8.3 Conclusions 188
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9 Mythsandfacts
Pressuresonthewelfarestate 193
9.1 Themythofindividualization 194
9.2 Doesindividualizationendangersolidarity? 195
9.3 Thevariousdimensionsofglobalization 196
9.4 Doesglobalizationthreatenthesustainabilityof
thewelfarestate? 197
9.5 Doestheindividualinterestincollectivearrangements
decline? 199
9.6 Isthesupportforone-sidedsolidaritycrumbling? 208
9.7 Youain’tseennothin’yet? 215
9.8 Conclusion 218
10 BetweencommunitycareandEuropeanwelfarestate
Policyalternativesforthenationalwelfarestate 219
10.1 Nineoptionsforthewelfarestate 220
10.2 Aliberalwelfarestatebasedonone-sidedsolidarity 221
10.3 Aconservativewelfarestatebasedontwo-sidedsolidarity 223
10.4 Asocial-democraticwelfarestatebasedonbothone-sided
andtwo-sidedsolidarity 224
10.5 Alocalwelfarestate 225
10.6 Asupranationalwelfarestate 228
10.7 Conclusion 231
References 233
Acknowledgements 241
Index 243
7

1 Individualization, globalization
and solidarity
We are inclined to compare the present with the past. Due to im-
pressive technological progression we have means of transport
and communication that we could not have imagined in the past
and that have changed our world dramatically. Looking at societal
developments we usually emphasize the differences with the past
and forget about the common threads between the now and the
then. But is the now really that different from the past or are we
simply labelling it “renewed”, in the same way as we do with
washing powders? Concentrating on the three central themes of
this book, it is tempting to characterize present-day society with
labelssuchasindividualization,globalizationanddecreasingsoli-
darity. After all, is it not true that modern humans are extremely
individualized, making their own choices, and solely concerned
about their own lives? Is the impact of globalization not visible
through the variety of foreign products,the increasing number of
migrants,andtheever-increasingpowerofinternationalorganiza-
tions? And in earlier times, were we not more willing to assist
each other? In that case, individualization and globalization have
ledtothedemiseofsolidarity,right?Clearly,individualizationand
globalizationbelongtothenow,andsolidarityispartofthepast.
The very coreof society is affected by individualization, globali-
zation, and solidarity. Such developments touch each of us, and
therefore everyone has an opinion about them. Through our own
experiences and the media we form an image of how well our
society is doing. That kind of information tells us that we live in
times of individualization, with a growing number of people liv-
ing singly and fewer people being part of traditional institutions,
and of globalization, visible through multinational corporations,
migration, and international organizations. Furthermore, it tells
us that we live in a society in which people are less prepared to
help each other and in which cuts in public expenditures are the
rule rather than the exception. These developments affect us all,
and we discuss them with friends, family, and colleagues. Being
9