Solidarity and Human Nature

Abstract

The concept of solidarity inhabits the collective unconscious. It is commonly associated with something consensual, connected to the most elementary values of humankind. Widening such understanding, however, lead us to more complex views. Is human solidarity conditioned to biological nature, or is it a cultural matter that surpasses any possible biological determinism? Through a transversal analysis, the present study seeks to analyze the solidarity phenomenon and its correlation to life in society under the complexity perspective, attempting to cover the phenomenon under different gazes, particularly sociobiology and its interpretation in the social sciences. Thus, we abandoned the ideas or projects in favor of a definitive and totalizing solution and explored the premises of complex thinking, which are supported precisely in overcoming a single organizational principle, or a single cause when explaining the same phenomenon. Our results show the need for new societal experiences that challenge the individualist competitive paradigm’s growth as the only viable alternative. We here emphasize the experiences of solidarity economy and third sector organizations that present a new business logic, a third-social force between the State and the market.