The Peaceful Revolution of Solidarity. Pierre Leroux on its Implications for Democracy, Sovereignty and Representation

Once a cornerstone of European political construction, solidarity now seems to have irretrievably lost its appeal. Its institutions appear as dusty relics of the past, and its viability and legitimacy seem to be at a low ebb. Problematically situated at the intersection of freedom and equality, individual and society, solidarity embodies an alternative conception of politics and political order that emerged in the first half of the nineteenth century in France, coinciding with the beginnings and original contradictions of modern democracy. Against this background, the paper examines Pierre Leroux's detailed conceptualization of solidarity - little studied in the English-speaking debate and soon marginalized by the swift reaction to the events of 1848 - and explores its implications for achieving democracy and rethinking sovereignty and the representation of the people. Particular attention is given to the revolutionary shift in the conceptualization of human nature, the relationship to time and history, and the role and legitimacy of the State which the modern concept of solidarity, at the same time, reflected and contributed to substantiating.