Abstract

Civic engagement favours integration and social cohesion, but the way in but how this happens and the role that responsibility represents in the process requires careful analysis. From Arendt’s critical comments on the link between citizenship and rights, Weil’s conception of obligations towards the human being, and Zambrano’s reflection about Europe, it is maintained that co-operation and not just obligations must be promoted. One possible way is to revalue the role of empathy in its important social function since it strengthens social relations, but this is not enough. It is stated that it is necessary to assume new political and social paradigms, such as that of solidarity or fraternity, to forge a new social covenant that promotes civic commitment in social, economic and political spaces.