Contingencies of Solidarity: Comparing Twitter discourses in Italy and Germany during the Covid-19 crisis

The article examines different articulations of solidarity discourse during the Covid-19 crisis, demonstrating how its meanings varied between the two countries in conjunction with national contingencies influencing how the crisis was experienced. Text analysis with Twitter data is used to compare how the term was framed in Italy and Germany during the crisis. The two countries are selected based on their differing socioeconomic, cultural and institutional conditions before the pandemic and varying consequences, with Germany’s stronger welfare regime performing relatively better. Results show how solidarity is framed differently in the two countries, with a commitment to public health and civic engagement in Germany and to social solidarity and local practices of assistance in Italy. The contribution underlines the value of reconstructing the varying meanings of solidarity under different societal conditions to understand its role as a catalyst for social resilience.