“The Trouble of Others”: Solidarity, Social Bonds, and Visibility

Can we “share the trouble of others”? Andree Chedid’s novel, The Sixth Day – our point of departure here – poses and suggests a provocative response to this question, to how we might see one another as cohabitants, to how we might engage in a “politics of deep solidarity” (Alexander 2020). More than empathy or compassion, this sharing or solidarity demands we take on our portion of the trouble of others; it makes clear the need for “political friendship” (Allen 2004) or “political solidarity” (Scholz 2008) or “solidarity with strangers” (Dean 1996). And if we can see and hear the demand for sharing the trouble of others, can we imagine putting it into practice (the story Chedid’s novel tells), recognizing that the alternatives are, literally, deadly? In reflecting on our initial question, we arrived at another: what happens to the possibility of solidarity with those whom we do not, or refuse, to see? Drawing on our personal, intellectual, and political experiences, we reflect on these questions, following the lead of material-world clinical cases and of imaginative fiction to point to a radically inclusive sharing that, we argue, our historical moment demands. Keywords: literature, solidarity, social bonds, political friendship, solidarity with strangers