ΑΛΛΗΛΕΓΓΥΗ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΕ: ΕΞΕΛΙΞΕΙΣ ΣΤΟ ΠΕΔΙΟ ΤΗΣ ΠΡΟΣΦΥΓΙΚΗΣ ΠΡΟΣΤΑΣΙΑΣ ΚΑΙ ΠΡΟΚΛΗΣΕΙΣ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΕ ΚΑΙ ΣΤΗΝ ΕΛΛΑΔΑ

22 The concept and dimensions of solidarity The Lexicon The etymology of the English term ‘solidarity’ has been commonsensically thought to derive from the French term solidarité (and solidaire ). In one of the first re- corded uses of the term in English, the revolutionary People’s Press proclaimed in pregnant 1848: “Solidarity is a word of French origin, the naturalisation of which, in this country, is desirable.” 11 The aim of establishing this, so to speak, ‘French connection’ during the period of its introduction in English is apparent. The revo- lutionary breadth of solidarité was seen as an indispensable component of a simi- lar conceptualization of solidarity in English. Nevertheless, no matter how signif- icant establishing this conceptual connection might have been at the times, its perpetuation may nowadays prove to be less revealing than obscuring for two rea- sons. First, it misses a more ancient etymological connection to the Latin (Roman) solidus and the English word solid , a point to which I will return below. Second, it conceals the ruptures of meaning in the conceptual history of solidarity, which is longer than we may think. More than a century after the establishment of the revolutionary ‘French connec- tion’, for example, the ‘Polish connection’ allowed for the reconceptualization of solidarity as almost a synonym to the everyday people’s struggle against ‘commu- nist totalitarianism’. As the Oxford English Dictionary (OED) interestingly notes re- spectively, “the French origin of the word is frequently referred to during the peri- od of its introduction into English use. Latterly also the English rendering of Polish Solidarność , the name of an independent trade-union movement in Poland, regis- tered in September 1980 and officially banned in October 1982.” 12 The conceptual impact of Solidarność was so significant that the OED records the first meaning of solidarity as following: “1.a. The fact or quality, on the part of communities, etc., of being perfectly united or at one in some respect, esp. in interests, sympathies, or aspirations; spec . with reference to the aspirations or actions of trade-union members .” 13 The quotes provided by the Dictionary are even more revealing than the recorded meanings. Already seven years before its use in the People’s Press , the term was first used in English less as a revolutionary concept than as one reflecting the Ro- man Law principle obligatio in solidum : Solidarity is collective responsibility. The solidary is the collectively responsible. 14 Even during the revolutionary period of 11. “1848 People’s Press II. 161/2.” Quoted from the Oxford English Dictionary [OED], un- der ‘solidarity’, 1. 12. OED, under solidarity, 1.a. 13. Emphasis added. 14. “1841 H. DOHERTY False Assoc. & its Remedy 24 Solidarity, Solidary. Collective respon- sibility. Collectively responsible.” Quoted from OED, first quote entry under ‘solidar- ity’, 1.