Weaving Solidarity

1. Why did you chose this topic?

I chose this topic, because contemporary anti-racist and decolonial struggles demand critical reflections about solidarity by privileged groups and actors. At the same time, I wanted to engage in theoretical debates about solidarity in dialogue with decolonial perspectives. Finally, I already had been following the struggle of the Mapuche and their transnational solidarity and advocacy network for a long time, which is why this context provided an excellent case study for that purpose.

2. What new perspectives does your book offer?

Up to the date, there are only a few empirical investigations about the possibilities and limitations of solidarity across racialized differences. In my book, I offer an in-depth, ethnographic account about the interpersonal and micro-social encounters that take place, when people engage in solidarity activities. Departing from these ethnographic narrations and interviews, I develop a critical notion of solidarity in dialogue with Mapuche cosmology and decolonial thought.

3. What makes your topic relevant for current research debates?

I hope that my research is relevant for current debates in solidarity, indigenous, and social movement studies. A decolonial intervention, that is sensitive to difference and power imbalances, might help to complexify our understanding of the social, political, and cultural relationships taking place within solidarity, indigenous and social movement activism. This particularly contributes to ongoing debates about the limitations and possibilities of solidarity across difference.

4. Choose one person you would like to discuss your book with!

I would love to discuss the ideas of my book with solidarity activist from different backgrounds, engaged in different struggles, and from different generational perspectives.

5. Your book summary in one sentence:

»Weaving Solidarity« critically discusses the limitations and possibilities for international solidarity in dialogue with decolonial perspectives.