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Fourteen SOLIDARITY AND HUMAN RIGHTS William Sweet 1. Introduction The word "solidarity" and the call to solidarity are familiar to us all. "Solidarity" reminds many of us of the trade union movement that arose in 1980 in opposition to the Polish government, whose leader Lech Walesa was awarded the Nobel Peace Prize in 1983 and whose actions were instrumental in the collapse of totalitarian regimes in Central and Eastern Europe. And for some four decades, the term "solidarity" and the call to be "in solidarity" have been uttered wherever we find those in need - thepoor, the oppressed, andthe marginalized. Now, we might ask, how is it that people can respond to such a call? The fact is we live in a world that is home to a multiplicityof religions, creeds, forms of life, ethical standards, ethical practices, and discourses. And in recent years we have become deeply conscious of how these various creeds, practices, and discourses separate us from oneanother - andof how what others think, aimat, and wish for, and what they do, are sometimes entirely foreign to us. How is it possible to answer - or even hear - a call tosolidarity ina radically pluralistic world? We are faced with a similar situation when it comes to human rights. We have recently celebrated the fiftieth anniversary of the United Nations Universal Declaration of Human Rights - a Declaration that calls for "all peoples and all nations" to strive "to promote respect for these rights" which reflect the dignity of all members of the human family. Marginalized and dispossessed groups often appeal to such rights, and the term "human rights" is found not only in philosophical texts, but in social and political discourse throughout the world. But to talk about and, especially, to defend the concept of universal human rights these days is a far from easy task. The problem is not just the practical challenge, posed by diversity and pluralism, to the recognition of universal rights. There has been severe criticism of any talk about "rights." Skeptical philosophers, since the time of Jeremy Bentham, have written that natural human rights are nonsensical, anarchic, and dangerous. Some from developing countries, like Vinay Lai, see charters of rights and the discourse of human rights as a tool of oppression employed by"western" governments. And some "post-modern"philosophers, such as Richard Rorty, suggest that talk about human rights is irrelevant and adds nothing to our sentiments to seejustice done and to help others. This is not, however, the view of the French philosopher Jacques Maritain, who was well aware of the challenges of pluralism and skepticism, but who insisted 214 William Sweet human rights were necessary to justice and international development and cooperation, particularly in a world as culturallydiverse as our own.1 Though he sometimes uses the term,2 Maritain did not discuss "solidarity" at any length. Still, his views on human rights can help us to understand the moral obligation to be "in solidarity" with others, and to clarify how to act concretely in a way that promotes solidarity. In this paper, I start with a standard description of solidarity and, after contrasting the term with a number of other concepts with which it may be associated, I consider what is supposed to be a radical criticism of this standard view - namely that found in thework of thephilosopher andsocial critic, Richard Rorty. I will suggest that Rorty's analysis of the concept of solidarity has anumber of serious problems, but also that some elements in his analysis can be used in the reconstruction of a more precise understandingof the notion. After sketching such a revised description, I will argue that Maritain's discussion of human rights is helpful in articulating how to act with solidarity, how to be in solidarity, why we should be in solidarity with others, and how a "sentimental education" promoting solidarity can be appropriate in our (post-) modern world. a. A Definition of "Solidarity" What is meant by "solidarity?" With whom are we called on to be "in solidarity?" What sorts of actions or activities fall under this category? To help with at least this first question, let us consider a standard definition of the term. The word "solidarity," which entered the English language in the middle of the nineteenth century, is derived from the French solidarite. It means a "relation among persons who recognize a community of interests, and which leads to the moral obligation not to harm one another and to come to one another's...

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