Solidarism

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There are presently three distinct uses of the term Solidarism:

1. Solidarism is applied to the sociopolitical thought advanced by Emile Durkheim which is loosely applied to a leading social philosophy operative during and within the French Third Republic prior to the First World War. ^[1]
2. A related but distinct usage of the term is offered by Heinrich Pesch (1854-1926) in his Teaching Guide to Economics and wherein it is synonymous with Social Catholicism or the application of the Catholic social teaching as outlined in the papal social encyclicals. ^[2]
3. The third usage of the term has been applied to the Swedish system of labor arrangement in which labor unions and capitalists jointly set wages below market clearing levels. From this arrangement, labor receives full employment and wage leveling, while capitalists pay less for labor, and do not have to worry about their employees being "poached" by firms who can offer more. This arrangement is traditionally enforced through employer organizations. The arrangement is destabilized during economic booms, when firms cheat on the system and surreptitiously raise "compensation", rather than pay, in the form of increased benefits, safety, or other forms of indirect payment.

[edit] Notes

1. ^ Hayward, J.E.S., "Solidarist Syndicalism: Durkheim and DuGuit", Sociological Review 8 (1960) and Thompson, Kenneth, Emile Durkheim, Routledge (2002)
2. ^ Pesch, Heinrich, Teaching Guide to Economics (10 volumes), translated by Rupert Ederler, Edwin Mellen Press (2003); and, Storck, Thomas, "A Giant Among Catholic Economists", New Oxford Review (February 2005)