The Social and Political Dimensions of Solidarity in Italy

This chapter explores the social and political dimensions of solidarity in Italy, providing new data and analyses on solidarity practices with respect to three target groups (the disabled, the unemployed, and the refugees) and explaining them with reference to social traits of the respondents, their beliefs, and their political preferences. Findings show that the most important factors fostering solidarity practices in Italy are social capital, religiosity, cognitive political involvement, and perceptions of deservingness. There are also group-related predictors of solidarity: political factors play a more important role for support towards the unemployed and above all refugees compared to support for the disabled; solidarity towards refugees is bounded by political orientations and at the same time is an unconditioned and universalistic form of solidarity.