‘Solidarity’ for strangers. A Case Study of ‘Solidarity’ Initiatives in Lesvos.

In the summer of 2015, the island of Lesvos was at the heart of one of the major displacements of populations in contemporary Europe, known as the ‘European refugee crisis’. Numerous humanitarian organizations and self-organized grassroots initiatives were employed in the field, providing assistance to the countless of newcomers. ‘Solidarity’, constituted the dominant scheme adopted by both the Greek government and the solidarians to conceptualize their response towards the people arriving and residing on the island of Lesvos. In this article, I discuss a case study of two ‘solidarity’ initiatives on the island of Lesvos during the ‘European refugee crisis’ addressing the wider political repercussions of the ‘solidarity’ movement in contemporary Greece. Furthermore, I explore the various meanings attached to the term ‘solidarity’ which have become common in the public discourse. I argue that such initiatives – that are not confined to the framework of the ‘European refugee crisis’- do not only respond to the immediate needs of the newcomers but also aim to challenge the implementation of austerity policies, imposed in Greece as a consequence of the persisting public debt crisis.