Changes in Contemporary Solidarity
In the foregoing section a rather pessimistic tone has sometimes resounded:
some of the authors cited seem to have a particularly keen eye
for developments pointing to adecline. As AlanWolfe (2000) has rightly
pointed out, statements about a supposed social decline are problematic
for various reasons. First, there is a problem of definition: what counts
exactly as social decline? Second, there is a problem of measurement: in
many cases it is very difficult to know whether certain acts are increasing
because we do not have points of comparison with earlier periods. Third,
generalization is problematic: on the basis of anecdotal information concerning
particular behavior, generalizations are made about the state of
society. Complaining about the moral quality of modern society might
lead toexcessive criticism of contemporary culture.Moreover, accounts of
social decline always carry the risk of ignoring other developments that are
of a qualitative rather than a quantitative nature. Solidarity may change
in quality or nature, instead of being in decline. These considerations
tempted Wolfe even “to want the word decline banished from the literature.
At least among social scientists notions of decline cause a reversal of
the proper way to examine a hypothesis” (2000: 130). Now we shift our
attention to more empirically based changes – in traditional solidarity,
local and global solidarity, and civil solidarity.