solidarismo

Solidarismo, or solidarism, is a political and social doctrine that seeks to organize society through solidarity and cooperation while preserving individual liberties. It positions itself as a middle way between laissez-faire liberalism and socialism, arguing that social harmony arises from the recognition of mutual obligations among individuals, families, associations, and the public authority. A key emphasis is on subsidiarity—the idea that problems should be addressed at the lowest level capable of solving them—and on the strengthening of intermediary institutions such as family, guilds, unions, and professional associations as vehicles of social cooperation.

Historically, solidarism emerged in the late 19th and early 20th centuries within Catholic social thought and other reform-minded circles as a response to industrialization and class conflict. Proponents argued that society should be organized around overlapping loyalties and duties, with the state acting to safeguard justice, fairness, and social welfare without suppressing voluntary associations. Various traditions adopted the term in different ways, including corporatist or pluralist variants that hoped to coordinate social groups through pluralistic institutions rather than class-based revolution or pure market liberalism.

Critics have pointed out that solidarism can be vague or be used to legitimate existing power structures if not clearly grounded in democratic participation and rights. In contemporary use, solidarism is less a single, unified doctrine and more a family of ideas about social order rooted in solidarity, responsibility, and social cooperation as foundations for a just society.