This theoretical article proposes a solidarity capital paradigm, a culturally rooted and affectively charged framework that enables collective resilience in contexts of crisis, inequality, and institutional absence, particularly within the Global South. The purpose of this article is to reframe dominant understandings of capital by foregrounding informal, relational, and moral infrastructures of support often overlooked in Eurocentric models. Drawing from the Indonesian tradition of Gotong Royong (mutual cooperation), the article conceptualizes solidarity capital as a moral, emotional, and practical resource embedded in horizontal social ties. Theoretically, the article synthesizes decolonial theory, the sociology of emotions, and critical social capital theory to explore how solidarity capital operates as a counter-framework to neoliberal, meritocratic, and individualistic paradigms. While not derived from empirical fieldwork, this conceptual exploration argues that solidarity capital, though often informal, culturally specific, and undervalued, functions as a vital infrastructure for survival and dignity. It provides a necessary alternative to dominant Western-centric models of education, social organization, and resilience by centering relational care, cultural obligations, and collective well-being.
Dewi et al. (Tue,) studied this question.