Conclusion: lessons learned and tensions exposed

This concluding chapter draws together lessons learned from the encounters between social economy activists and academics from Latin America and Europe which were brought together in this collection. It discusses the role of antagonism in social economies, especially in the light of austerity in Europe – and Latin America’s experiences of a lost decade. It discusses tensions between the benefits of top down, centralised, state delivered welfare, and grassroots creativity, arguing for the development of 45 degree politics that maintains the best of both conceptions, with the state maintaining universal access and sufficient resources, while grassroots actors ensure that initiatives are tailored to local needs. Finally it brings together arguments for the need for the SSE sector to develop conceptions of prosperous livelihoods providing dignity and inclusion for those currently denied a livelihood with dignity in the concept of the Anthropocene. It concludes by arguing that these conceptions can best be developed though continued dialogue between actors in the global North and South.

Transitioning towards low carbon solidarity economies?

Building on the diverse economies perspective of JK Gibson-Graham, this chapter discusses how conceptions of just and sustainable economies in the context of the Anthropocene can be generated and, more importantly, performed through social and solidarity economies in the global North. It reviews concepts of the SSE in the global North, and discusses the extent that the UK social economy sector has been tamed and neoliberalised as more antagonistic conceptions of co-operative and grassroots economies created by green and socialist activists in the 1970s and 1980s have been transformed into neoliberal conceptions of social enterprise, with an inbuilt assumption that the private sector is more effective than the public. It discusses how in conditions of austerity social enterprise can legitimate the abandonment of socially excluded communities, and that to counter this, the social economy sector in the UK should develop more antagonistic perspectives, learning from Latin Americans. Finally, it discusses the contribution of Transition Initiatives in rekindling conceptions of grassroots sustainable economies.

Towards a new economics: concepts and experiences from Latin America

In this chapter the Social and Solidarity Economy is presented both as an alternative theory and a counterhegemonic program of political action that challenges the tenets of the market economy of neoliberal doctrine. The proposal is framed within a substantive economy approach based on the works of Marx and Polanyi. The categories of a substantive economic analysis regarding ethical and specifically economic principles and institutions are outlined. Recent advances in the line of a Social and Solidarity Economy are sketched for some of the Latin American national-popular political processes (Bolivia, Ecuador, Venezuela and Argentina, with some references to Brazil), including an especial reference to the new constitutions and public policies and the tensions between different objectives revealed within them.

Being a Zapatista wherever you are: reflections on academic-activist practice from Latin America to the UK

This chapter reflects on the experiences of undertaking solidarity work with the Zapatista social movement in the southern Mexico state of Chiapas, and what this means for building the solidarity economy. It focuses on six themes: education that challenges neoliberalism, developing resources with social movements, a commitment to participatory organising, building infrastructure for self-management, taking a strategic approach, and taking risks. The paper stresses that ‘being a Zapatista wherever you are’ is a rocky road which opens up openings and possibilities. It is a long journey with no clear endpoint that requires patience, openness, strength and compassion, but it is one that the author encourages the readers to embark upon joyfully with others.

Fundos de Pasto: Community governance of common resources in north-east Brazil

This chapter examines the social management of ‘nature’ and the commons using Ostrom’s theorisation of common resourse management. It examines Brazil’s Fundos do Pasto, communally managed pastureland, and, using Ostrom’s approach, shows how better environmental outcomes are achieved using solidarity-based pasture management approaches. This is contrasted with the approach of those who, misreading Hardin, argue that private ownership is the only way to avoid a tragedy of the (unmanaged) commons.

Brazil’s social economic incubators

In the 1980s, coinciding with the struggle for Brazil's re-democratisation, the Solidarity Economy movement emerged as an alternative to an economic plan that resulted in massive unemployment and economic stagnation. In this context, workers organizations based in self-management principles arose as a comprehensive economic, political and social movement. The Social Economic Incubators (SEI) support the creation of solidarity economic ventures (SEVs) in low-income communities through an incubation process conducted by universities to help generating income and jobs. This chapter gives an overview of these incubators, starting with a discussion of their historical evolution and political scene; presenting the political and pedagogical process adopted within the incubators and its methodology regarding the social economic ventures; and showing how these incubators were supported by the government and the civil society. Finally, the chapter discusses the results and benefits of the incubation process, not only in economic terms, but also in its educational, cultural and political nature.

Innovation, cooperatives and inclusive development: rethinking technological change and social inclusion

In Latin America the relationships between technological innovation and inclusive development have been stabilised into research and policy agendas. However, conventional understandings of what constitutes innovation still guide practices that are embedded in Science and Technology Policy. This chapter aims at providing a reconceptualisation of the notion of the innovation and production system. In particular, the chapter utilises theoretical perspectives to position worker cooperatives as actors providing dynamism to innovation and social development processes, and argues that a shift in focus towards worker cooperatives could have the potential to set in motion a series of dynamics of learning, knowledge sharing, and techno-productive capability generation which would entail new socio-technical alliances oriented to more democratic processes of knowledge acquisition. It presents a brief review of the economic literature on the role of the company in terms of innovation, followed by a critical analysis of those principles. The chapter provides an explanation of the systemic implications of an innovation and production system focused on the profit-maximizing company vis-à-vis one focused on worker cooperatives. It closes with a series of reflections on STI public policies aimed at inclusive development.

Monsieur le Capital and Madame la Terre on the brink

Marx and Polanyi each proposed that land, labour and capital are central aspects of capitalist development. For Marx they were the foundation of a free-trade ideology that obscured labour’s central importance to capital accumulation. Polanyi rejected production as the nexus of exploitation, and instead emphasized the free trader’s ideology of self-regulating. This chapter examines these competing claims and considers their implications the place of SSEs in today’s global political economy, exploring the extent to which they have the emancipatory potential to mitigate the consequences of capitalist development.

Solidarity economy policy dialogue in Latin America: transferring Argentine experience of social currency to Brazil

Rethinking the economy is at the core of transformations that intersect with every social activity: livelihoods, energy production, healthy food, protection of the environment - and of course, education. All over the world new models of development are trying to cope with the challenge of confronting financial capitalism, and in this context the Solidarity Economy has developed in Latin America. This chapter discusses how different innovations are transferred to other countries and contexts, such as the case of how social currencies from civil society in Argentina that have inspired new public policy in Brazil. It shows how governments can support and/or retard good ideas developing within civil society organisations being transmitted from their origins and finding new homes, on the way being adjusted to new conditions.

The role of universities in the sustainable evolution of solidarity economies

This chapter examines how a university can offer mindset-changing experiences to benefit local communities and students; arouse awareness to the way we work, do business and relate to each other and to our environment; and maximise the involvement of individuals and groups in solidarity economy movements. A three year action research programme developed by Methodist University of Sao Paulo in Montanhao, a poor Sao Bernardo do Campo neighbourhood offered supported the development of projects, programmes and management tools, supported the development of a repertoire of community-focused social technologies, and highlighted cultural and local knowledge. The programmes offered a real contribution to the empowerment of communities and the development of the quality of life at a local level, especially adapting business plan methodologies towards the goal of developing the solidarity economy, spreading income more fairly, and increasing the groups’ self-esteem, while developing students’ skills. It also focused skills available in an academic environment on contributing to local development demands, creating a new values platform based in collective development, associational skills, and environmental and local awareness, especially for local women who represented 70% of all solidarity economy movement participants.