Deakin, S. (2014) “Law And Solidarity: Reflections On August 1914“, Social Europe Journal, 13 October.
On the occasion of the centenary of the outbreak of the war in Europe, it is my great privilege to give this address to the graduating Masters class of 2014, and to continue the historic ties between Cambridge and Louvain. A century ago, our two universities stood in solidarity against the common threat of war and disorder. In conditions of extreme adversity, ties were formed between us which endure today. A shared history of support for independent thought and scientific progress continues to unite us.
In August 1914, many in Europe welcomed a war which they thought would have a cleansing effect on a corrupt and failing society. The conflict had many proximate causes, but deep down was powered by a prevailing idea: that the strong will, and should, overcome the weak. The notion of the ‘survival of the fittest’, when applied to whole societies and nations, was a perversion of the scientific thought of the time; but its link, however tenuous, to theories of evolution, helped to make it conventional wisdom among political and military elites.
The war resulted, not in a new social order, but in unprecedented devastation. The burning of the great library of Louvain was simply a harbinger of the greater damage that would be done to European society. In 1919, at the otherwise ill-fated Versailles conference, the attempt began to construct institutions of cooperation and mutual aid within and between nations. The International Labour Organization was founded on the principle that the existence of poverty anywhere was a threat to peace everywhere. After 1945, following the cataclysm of a second global war originating in Europe, the search for an enduring institutional solution to the threat of social disorder was resumed. Among other things it led to the unique form of transnational cooperation that we now know as the European Union.
The idea of solidarity did not begin with the invention of the ILO and EU. Our legal training tells us that in its origin it is a juridical idea. In private law, it denotes shared responsibility for a harm jointly caused. The joint and several liability of tortfeasors for damage to persons and property, or liability in solidum, is the simplest and oldest expression of this idea.
Relevant posts:
- Mendelsohn, J. (2014) “In this together – Rethinking Solidarity in Europe“, The European Magazine, 02 October.
- Schraad-Tischler, D. & Kroll, C. (2014) “Social imbalance in Europe is increasing“, Social Inclusion Monitor, Bertelsmann Stiftung, September.
- Sotiropoulos, D. & Bourikos, D. (2014) “Economic Crisis, Social Solidarity and the Voluntary Sector in Greece“, Journal of Power, Politics & Governance, June 2014, Vol. 2, No. 2, pp. 33-53.