"True solidarity, he argues, is less a virtue to be cultivated than a human condition to be acknowledged. It requires us to accept two stubborn truths: first, that we can never identify completely with someone else, because we are inescapably separate from them in mind and body; and second, that we are innately social beings, linked to each other by invisible threads of obligation and reciprocity."
"He is critical of the contemporary idea of human rights as freestanding individual entitlements or cheques to be cashed, which makes them liable to turn into conflicting absolutes the fractious and circular debates now raging about free speech being a case in point. The moral interdependence of all human life, he suggests, necessitates an endless dialogue where rights sit alongside obligations."
"Following the Czech philosopher Jan Patocka, Williams calls for a solidarity of the shaken, a radical human togetherness formed out of an acceptance of our shared vulnerability and reliance on each other in a fallen world."
Rowan Williams distinguishes genuine solidarity from superficial expressions of support on social media. While solidarity can serve as a moral intensifier and declaration of innocence, Williams argues it must move beyond unequivocal identification with victims. He critiques modern empathy as often serving self-centered needs rather than recognizing true otherness. Authentic solidarity acknowledges two fundamental truths: humans cannot completely identify with others due to inherent separateness, yet we are innately social beings bound by obligation and reciprocity. This requires sustained emotional labor and time. Williams also challenges contemporary human rights frameworks that treat rights as individual entitlements, advocating instead for dialogue balancing rights with obligations. Drawing on Jan Patocka's philosophy, he proposes a solidarity of the shaken, rooted in accepting shared vulnerability and interdependence.
Read at www.theguardian.com
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