How do taxpayers link solidarity to paying taxes? Using focus group interviews in Namibia, we explore taxpayers’ views on revenue generation, emphasizing their perspectives on taxation and solidarity.
Taxation practices and experiences are embedded in everyday experiences. We argue that solidarity, a sense of unity or mutual support within a group, is key to understanding why people pay taxes. Taxation is a context where solidarity becomes visible and explicit, and at the same time taxation is an area that produces and shapes solidarity through its practice. We contribute to theorizing on the relationship between taxation and state building by analyzing how tax paying citizens view taxation as linked to notions of solidarity.
