Zed Books The Social Economy: International Perspectives on Economic Solidarity

Excerpt. © Reprinted by permission. All rights reserved. The Social EconomyInternational Perspectives on Economic SolidarityBy Ash AminZed Books LtdCopyright © 2009 Ash AminAll rights reserved.ISBN: 978-1-84813-281-8ContentsFigures, tables and boxes, vii, Acknowledgements, ix, PART I Conceptual dilemmas, 1 Locating the social economy Ash Amin, 3, 2 Social economy: engaging as a third system? John Pearce, 22, PART II International evidence, 3 Building community economies in Massachusetts: an emerging model of economic development? Julie Graham and Janelle Cornwell, 37, 4 Working for social enterprises: does it make a difference? Carlo Borzaga and Sara Depedri, 66, 5 Experimenting with economic possibilities: ethical economic decision-making in two Australian community enterprises Jenny Cameron, 92, 6 Building community-based social enterprises in the Philippines: diverse development pathways The Community Economies Collective and Katherine Gibson, 116, 7 A path to the social economy in Argentina: worker takeovers of bankrupt companies José Luis Coraggio and María Sol Arroyo, 139, PART III Policy challenges, 8 Organizing for the solidarity economy in south Brazil Noëlle Lechat, 159, 9 The three pillars of the social economy: the Quebec experience Marguerite Mendell, 176, 10 Social economy and development in Poland Jerzy Hausner, 208, 11 Supporting the social and solidarity economy in the European Union Jean-Louis Laville, 232, Notes on contributors, 253, Index, 258, CHAPTER 1Locating the social economyAsh AminAs economic crisis continues to spread around the globe, questions are being asked about what will follow. Even mainstream opinion, so sure about the market economy, is asking whether capitalism can survive in its present form. There is increasing talk of stringent economic regulation and the need to temper greed and individualism, make the economy work for human and social development, return control of the economy to states and stakeholders, and harness economic progress to social and environmental sustainability. The search seems to be on for a kinder, greener, less unequal and more redistributive capitalism. No doubt the intensity of this search will depend upon how well market capitalism recovers from the crisis.The critics of capitalism see the present time as an opportunity to move on, to alter radically the meaning and social status of the economy, so that the inequality, egotism and recurrent crises built in to capitalism can be overcome. For socialists, Greens, communitarians, and other anti-capitalists, the current finance-led meltdown is the symptom of a deeper systemic flaw, necessitating a different kind of economic system. They argue that a new system should allow diverse forms of social ownership, harness finance to productive use, mobilize local resources and capabilities, serve social and developmental needs, empower producers and consumers, and reinforce human solidarity and ethical care. It must do more than socialize the market economy, by making money, markets and the productive system work for human development, ecological preservation, spatial equality and collective fellowship.This transitional moment, with its pointed questions about the economy to come, provides an opportunity to assess the role and potential of the 'social economy'. Until a decade ago, the term, if known, was used mainly by the fringe, to describe activity in the 'alternative economy' (e.g. practices of non-monetary exchange, microfinance, ethical trade or community enterprise). In the developed economies, despite their legacies of unemployment, inequality and fiscal stress on the state to deliver comprehensive welfare, mainstream opinion held that responsibility for balancing economic prosperity and social well-being lay in the hands of states and markets. The same was true in the developing economies, notwithstanding their legacies of persistent poverty, inequality, economic inefficiency and state failure. Here, policy emp