Social and Solidarity Economy: Beyond the Fringe

Description

As contexts of economic crisis, vulnerability, inequality and climate change prompt a global debate on the meaning and trajectory of development, increasing attention is focusing on "social and solidarity economy" as a distinctive approach to sustainable and rights-based development. While we are beginning to understand what social and solidarity economy is, what it promises and how it differs from "business as usual", we know far less about whether it can really move beyond its fringe status in many countries and regions. Under what conditions can social and solidarity economy scale up and scale out - that is, expand in terms of the growth of social and solidarity economy organizations and enterprises, or spread horizontally within given territories?Bringing together leading researchers in this field, blending theoretical and empirical analysis, and drawing on experiences and case studies from multiple countries and regions, this volume addresses these questions. In so doing, it aims to inform a broad constituency of development actors including scholars, practitioners, activists and policy makers. Front Cover Just Sustainabilities About the Editor Title Page Copyright Contents Figures and Tables Abbreviations and Acronyms Preface Introduction: The Challenge of Scaling Up Social and Solidarity Economy Introduction About this book Part I: History, Theory and Strategy 1: Social and Solidarity Economy in Historical Perspective Introduction Market and Solidarity in Nineteenth-Century Europe Bringing in The Twentieth-Century State Crisis, Civil Society and Social Innovation Social and Solidarity Economy: A New Twenty-First-Century Synergy? The Challenges of Realising Democratic Solidarity Conclusion: Towards Democratic Solidarity 2: Prometheus, Trojan Horse or Frankenstein? Appraising the Social and Solidarity Economy Introduction Defining the SSE Theorising the SSE Connecting The Dots: Liberal Philosophy and the SSE Economics: The Playground of Liberal Assumptions The SSE in Action: Thinking beyond the Individual Conclusion: Towards an Ethical Value-Added Framework 3: Beyond The Business Case: A Community Economies Approach to Gender, Development and Social Economy Introduction The Business Case for Gender and Development: Social Justice or ‘Business as Usual’? Beyond the Business Case: Reimagining Economy and Development Taking Back the Economy Economic Difference Community Economies and Subjects-in-becoming Conclusion 4: Can Social and Solidarity Economy Organisations Complement or Replace Publicly Traded Companies? Introduction The SSE Landscape and Publicly Traded Companies Characteristics of SSE Organisations that Drive and Hinder Growth Opportunities for Growth for SSE Organisations Risks to SSE Organisations Associated with Growth Conclusion 5: Scaling the Social and Solidarity Economy: Opportunities and Limitations of Fairtrade Practice Introduction What Does Scaling the SSE Mean? The Potential Contributions of Ft to Scaling the SSE Limits of FT as a Vehicle for Scaling the SSE Conclusion 6: The Potential and Limits of Farmers’ Marketing Groups as Catalysts for Rural Development Introduction The Nature and Impacts of Agricultural Cooperatives Structural Tensions Affecting Agricultural Cooperatives Coping with Tensions in Farmers’ Organisations Conclusion 7: Institutionalising the Social and Solidarity Economy in Latin America Introduction Three Countries, Three Processes The Reality and Prospects of SSE: A Comparative Perspective Conclusion 8: Rebuilding Solidarity-driven Economies after Neoliberalism: The Role of Cooperatives and Local Developmental States in Latin America Introduction Cooperative Enterprises as the Core of the SSE Model Cooperative Enterprise Development as an Aspect of Local Economic Development Policy The LDS Model and Cooperative Enterprise Development in Latin America Conclusion 9: Enabling the Social and Solidarity Economy through the Co-Construction of Public Policy Introduction Findings: Why Co-Construction? Requirements for Effective Co-Construction Conclusion Part II: Collective Action and Solidarity in Practice 10: Beyond Alternative Food Networks: Italy’s Solidarity Purchase Groups and the United States’ Community Economies Introduction The Emergence of Solidarity Purchase Groups in Italy Solidarity Purchase Groups as Family-Driven Collectives Re-Embedding The Economy into Society Solidarity Purchase Groups as Laboratories for Sustainable Citizenship Conclusion: Towards an Agenda for Comparative Analysis 11: Social and Solidarity Investment in Microfinance Introduction The Components: Microfinance and Pro-Social Investment Pro-Social Investment Microfinance, Investment and the Elements of SSE Conclusion 12: Balancing Growth and Solidarity in Community Currency Systems: The Case of the Trueque in Argentina Introduction SSE as Institutional Innovation Scaling Up SSE Scaling Up in the Trueque Conclusion 13: State and SSE Partnerships in Social Policy and Welfare Regimes: The Case of Uruguay Introduction SSE as Social Service Deliverer: Rationale and Limits Providing Welfare Services through NGOs and Other SSE Actors in Uruguay Recent Trends: From ‘Retrenchment Allies’ to ‘Welfare Adjustment Enablers’? Enabling or Disabling SSE through Policy Partnerships? Conclusion 14: Extending Social Protection in Health through SSE: Possibilities and Challenges in West Africa Introduction The Development of Mutual Health Organisations in West Africa The Link between Public Authorities and MHOs Towards a New Model to Extend Social Protection in Health SSE Organisations as the Main Actors in the Extension of Social Health Protection in West Africa Conclusion 15: Enabling Agricultural Cooperatives in Uganda: The Role of Public Policy and the State Introduction The Development of Agricultural Cooperatives Contemporary Cooperative Structure, Activities and Challenges Enabling Cooperatives: Key Issues and Challenges for the State Further Challenges for Government Conclusions and Policy Implications 16: Embeddedness and the Dynamics of Growth: The Case of the Amul Cooperative, India Introduction Background to the Case Study The Growth of Amul Conclusion 17: Taking Solidarity Seriously: Analysing Kerala’s Kudumbashree as a Women’s SSE Experiment Kudumbashree: A State-Wide Anti-Poverty Programme Agency and Solidarity Kudumbashree: An Emerging Social and Solidarity Economy? Conclusion: Challenges and Future Directions 18: Demonstrating the Power of Numbers: Gender, Solidarity and Group Dynamics in Community Forestry Institutions Introduction Some Conceptual Issues The Impact of Numbers: Data and Findings Enhancing Women’s Presence, Voice and Influence Conclusions Notes About the Contributors Bibliography Index Back Cover