In some groups and circles, "solidarity" can be a common buzz word, something you drop here and there for good impressions. It sounds nice and intelligent. You might be in a group like that, and that's not what I'm trying to do on my blog.

The fact is, if you are like I was three years ago (when the word first started coming up for me in conversations), you don't really know what the word means and even less why it should be important in cross cultural relations. Sort of as a funny side note, sometimes, when I don't know what a word means, instead of looking it up in the dictionary (which would be the obvious choice), I kind of choose a word that is close to it and derive a meaning from there (even though the other word has completely different etymology). Needless to say, "solitude," "solitary," and "solitaire," did not provide any great insights.

So, obviously, my own understanding of solidarity and its significance has come about fairly recently, and is something that is now central to my stated motivations for international work.

Basically, (stealing from dictionary.com phrases), it just means a union of interests or purposes; mutual responsibility; or community of feelings. For me and my time here, it means trying to integrate myself into the life of the Bolivians around me, making their interests and feelings also part of my own.

As far as why it's important, as I have mentioned before (see posts here and here), the attitudes we have and the means we use in international work can have a profound effect on whether or not there is a positive influence. Work that comes out of a solidary relationship, rather than some sort of paternalistic approach, is much more likely to be positive.

But solidarity also goes beyond that for me. Paulo Freire (author of Pedagogy of the Oppressed), talks about how the situation for the oppressed is stripping them of their human dignity. Dignity cannot be given to them as a gift (because that ultimately contradicts itself); therefore they must work for it themselves. However, people living in situations of power and privilege are also being stripped of our human dignity because we are being forced into a system which makes us oppressors. And there is no more human dignity in being an oppressor than in being oppressed. Solidarity with the poor, therefore, also helps us to see in ourselves (and in our systems and governments) what we never see from our own perspective.

And so, solidarity actually means two things for me. 1) a supporting role in the struggle of the oppressed for a more just society, and 2) a starring role in my own struggle to see myself, my ideas, points of view, government, culture, etc. for what it really is and to rid myself of the oppressive aspects.