Social Inclusion
Volume 7, Issue 2, 2019, Pages 208-218

Challenging the nation-state from within: The emergence of transmunicipal solidarity in the course of the EU refugee controversy (Article) (Open Access)

Heimann C. , Müller S. , Schammann H. , Stürner J.*
  • a Migration Policy Research Group, University of Hildesheim, Hildesheim, 31141, Germany
  • b Migration Policy Research Group, University of Hildesheim, Hildesheim, 31141, Germany
  • c Migration Policy Research Group, University of Hildesheim, Hildesheim, 31141, Germany
  • d Centre for Area Studies, Friedrich-Alexander-University Erlangen-Nürnberg, Erlangen, 91054, Germany

Abstract

In the context of the so-called refugee crisis, political disputes about solidarity become a central issue with member states applying competing concepts. At the same time, European cities use transnational networks to implement a new form of solidarity among municipalities via city diplomacy (Acuto, Morissette, & Tsouros, 2017). Analyzing the deadlock between member states and the emerging activities of cities, we scrutinize the limits of existing approaches to political solidarity (e.g., Agustín & Jørgensen, 2019; Knodt, Tews, & Piefer, 2014; Sangiovanni, 2013) to explain this phenomenon. Based on expert interviews and document analysis from a study on transnational municipal networks, we identify an emerging concept of solidarity that challenges the nation states as core providers of solidarity from within: Transmunicipal solidarity focuses on joint action of local governments to scale out and scale up. © 2019 by the authors; licensee Cogitatio (Lisbon, Portugal).

Author Keywords

City networks migration policy Integration policy Concepts of solidarity Refugee controversy European Union

Index Keywords

[No Keywords available]
Link
https://www.scopus.com/inward/record.uri?eid=2-s2.0-85069738768&doi=10.17645%2fsi.v7i2.1994&partnerID=40&md5=637705c3c1c463bb6436624f0c339477
DOI: 10.17645/si.v7i2.1994
ISSN: 21832803
Cited by: 2
Original Language: English