Undersøker global solidaritet via moralfilosofi og småskala bistandsprosjekter

Lee Michael Shults
Institutt for global utvikling og samfunnsplanlegging, UiA

I am conducting an interdisciplinary study of global solidarity, connecting the fields of moral and political philosophy with empirical research on small-scale humanitarian aid projects.

I have written a theory-driven article that discusses the respective strengths and weaknesses of accounts that treat global solidarity as a universal moral obligation and accounts that treat global solidarity as an affective or empathic bond.

I have also co-authored an article that builds on field studies of the refugee crisis in Lesvos, Greece between 2015 and 2019. This article addresses the unintended consequences of amateur aid and Western narratives of solidarity, including the disempowerment of locals and the reproduction of colonialist hierarchies.

The next step will be to conduct semi-structured, qualitative interviews with founders of Norwegian aid initiatives. My overall aim is to ground philosophical debates about solidarity in empirical research, while also providing conceptual clarity for future social scientific inquiry.