Abstract
Solidarity is amongst those peculiar political notions that have taken on different meanings in the context of Czech politics. Together with the ‘rule of law’ or ‘EU values’, for example, it has come to be seen as part of the moralising rhetoric used by ‘old’ elites in the European Union (EU). In this interpretation, which has become dominant in Czech political discourse, solidarity ceased to be a symbolic practice expressing the EU’s political unity and was turned into a tool of division. ‘Paternalistic’ and ‘contemptuous’ towards differences are the common predicates that are related to solidarity. To put it simply, solidarity has become a predominantly negative notion.
This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2022 The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Switzerland AG
About this chapter
Cite this chapter
Kratochvíl, P., Sychra, Z. (2022). Flexible Solidarity and the Limits of Altruism in Czechia. In: Kaeding, M., Pollak, J., Schmidt, P. (eds) European Solidarity in Action and the Future of Europe. The Future of Europe. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86537-5_6
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-86537-5_6
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Cham
Print ISBN: 978-3-030-86536-8
Online ISBN: 978-3-030-86537-5
eBook Packages: Political Science and International StudiesPolitical Science and International Studies (R0)