Introduction

The editors of a recent special edition of Citizenship Studies draw attention to the proliferation of grassroots migration political movements as a feature of migration politics today: ‘Over the past decade, we have witnessed an upsurge of political mobilisation by refugees, irregularised migrants, and migrant solidarity activists in the countries of the European Union, at its external borders … and in other parts of the world …’ (Ataç et al, 2016: 527– 528). In this essay we propose to examine aspects of this movement from the angle of one of its key political concepts: solidarity. The idea of solidarity offers a promising entry point for a critical analysis of the limits of EUrope precisely because it is hotly contested, both as a political value and a practice. From grassroots activists to EU officials, actors on many sides of Europe’s migration struggles act in the name of solidarity. But what do they mean by solidarity and how does it bring the question of limits into focus?

Reference to solidarity has become widespread in migration scholarship in recent years (Rygiel, 2011; Millner, 2011; Johnson, 2015). But solidarity is also a common referent in EU studies. The notion of solidarity has represented one of the political backbones of the EU since its creation. For instance, the Schuman Declaration (1950) stresses that ‘Europe will not be made all at once, or according to a single plan. It will be built through concrete achievements which first create a de facto solidarity’. A critical appraisal of solidarity pushes us towards the limits of Europe. Indeed, in the current context of economic backlash, European solidarity appears also to be in a state of crisis. Nevertheless, even beyond the contingent situation, speaking about solidarity within and in relation to the EU is not a straightforward issue: is solidarity a state-oriented activity or is it enacted towards citizens? What are the asymmetries – among states, as well as between European citizens and states – upon which solidarity is built? The Treaty of Lisbon (2007) illustrates a considerable range of meanings and inflections of solidarity, such as solidarity between member states, solidarity between women and men, solidarity between states around issues of migration, borders and asylum, as well as solidarity among generations.