Political Solidarity, Justice and Public Health

Abstract

In this article, I argue that political solidarity is important to justice. At its core, political solidarity is a relational concept. To be in a relation of political solidarity is to be in a relation of connection or unity with one’s fellow citizens. I argue that citizens of a shared state can be said to stand in such a relation when they have attitudes of collective identification, mutual respect, mutual trust, loyalty and mutual support toward one another. I argue that there are distinctly social bases for political solidarity and that justice requires that social and political institutions be structured so that they promote these. As an example of the sort of social and political arrangements that might encourage relations of political solidarity, I discuss Canada’s response to the recent H1N1 pandemic and the failings of this response with respect to members of the Aboriginal community within Canada. I focus on these issues because considerations relating to solidarity and justice have received little attention in most discussions of them. I argue that ensuring that members of the Aboriginal community had equal access to the goods they needed to protect themselves against H1N1 infection would have more effectively promoted political solidarity and, in turn, would have more effectively promoted justice.