Political Altruism? deals with participation in political activities aimed at defending the rights of other individuals and groups, such as asylum seekers, immigrant workers, populations of Third World countries, and people whose fundamental human rights are being harmed. Solidarity movements have become an important collective actor in contemporary western societies, yet virtually no scholarly work up to now has addressed them theoretically and empirically.

Contributions by: Simone Baglioni, Ivana Eterovic, Olivier Fillieule, Marco Giugni, Ruud Koopmans, Christian Lahusen, Costanzo Ranci, Jackie Smith, Sarah A. Soule, Paul Statham, Charles Tilly