Solidarity economy
Solidarity economy or Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) refers to a wide range of economic activities that aim to prioritize social profitability instead of purely financial profits. A key feature that distinguishes solidarity economy entities from private and public enterprises is the participatory and democratic nature of governance in decision-making processes as one of the main principles of the SSE sector. Active participation of all people involved in decision-making procedures contributes to their empowerment as active political subjects. However, different SSE organizational structures reflect variations in democratic governance and inclusive participation. Overview. Some refer to solidarity  economy as a method for naming and conceptualizing transformative monetary qualities, practices, and foundations that exist throughout the world. These incorporate, yet are not constrained to, egalitarian and participatory monetary conduct by people, laborers, and makers, for example, by a person who is a moral shopper, specialist, and additionally financial specialist, or by a specialist co-op, reasonable exchange business, or dynamic association. It is an economic formation which seeks to improve the quality of life of a region or community on the basis of solidarity, often through local business and not-for-profit endeavors. It mainly consists of activities  organized to address and transform exploitation under capitalist economics and the large-corporation, large-shareholder-dominated economy and can include diverse activities. For some, it refers to a set of strategies and a struggle aimed at the abolition of capitalism and the social relations that it supports and encourages; for others, it names strategies for "humanizing" the capitalist economy—seeking to supplement capitalist globalization with community-based "social safety nets". History. "Solidarity economy" was used as an economic organizing concept as early as 1937, when Felipe Alaiz advocated for the development of economic solidarity among worker collectives in urban and  rural areas during the Spanish Civil War It emerged more widely as a term in Latin America over the past twenty years in response to community and worker demands to expand forms of social inclusion and unity. Different conceptions of Solidarity Economy originated among movements seeking to create grassroots economies during the military dictatorships that dominated Latin America during the 1970s and 1980s and subsequently, flourished as of the emergence of financial neoliberal democracies in the 1990s up to the present. The term "Social Solidarity Economy" started to be used in the late 90s.  The first meeting of what would  thereafter become the RIPESS (Intercontinental network for the promotion of social solidarity economy) network, took place in Lima, Peru on July 4, 1997 and the participants from more than 30 countries agreed that there needed to be a strong integration between the more traditional social economy structures (collective enterprises – a sector of the solidarity economy) and the more holistic and alternative approaches of solidarity economy practices and communities. In fact, while in most francophone and hispanophone countries the expression used is "Social AND Solidarity Economy", when the RIPESS network was formally announced in December 2002, it chose to eliminate the  AND in its official name, in order to stress solidarity economy's aim of transformative system change, which includes going beyond the social economy. Another global network with the same aims, the Alliance for a Responsible, Plural and United World, produced an enhanced definition: "Production, distribution and consumption activities which contribute to the democratisation of the economy via citizen engagement at the local and global level. Many networks continue to use the term Solidarity Economy and institutions usually refer to SSE as Social and Solidarity Economy.  Solidarity-based economic approaches. One SSE approach focuses primarily on making the current economic  system sustainable. Its objective is the creation of enterprises that serve its members or the community, instead of simply striving for financial profit by prioritising people and work over capital in the distribution of revenue and surplus. United Nations Research Institute for Social Development has concluded that "social and solidarity economy, a science-in-the-making, cannot go very far in framing discourses and in engaging with the bigger picture, as an alternative to the crisesridden "dominant economic paradigm"" and calls for further developing SSE into a new scientific theory with its own foundations which would offer an alternative  to the "homo economicus". Core values and principles. The RIPESS Charter of the Intercontinental Network for the Promotion of Social Solidarity Economy sets out eleven core values to promote the ethical and value-based economic model: Also, sharing some of the above-mentioned points, six principles have been described in the REAS Charter for Solidarity Economy: Challenges of Solidarity Economy. Market relation pressures - As Solidarity Economy enterprises expand, it often becomes more immersed in market relations and global value chains, making it confront new pressures that force large SSE organizations to adopt practices that are characteristic of for-profit enterprise  and dilute core SSE principles. An example of such a case could be the growing criticism of microcredit practices. Informal economy vulnerability – Solidarity Economy interacts with the informal economy of atomized workers and producers a complex web of social relations. The challenge lies in transitioning out of this informality, transforming a wide array of informal social relations with multiple actors into governance and adopting necessary regulations. Internal dynamics - Solidarity Economy organizations can be prone to elite capture and social exclusion. This might be because of the types of producers that integrate organizations such as cooperatives and/or due to the fact  that those with better education and skills end up dominating governance structures. Balancing multiple objectives – Solidarity Economy enterprises are required to balance a variety of potential objectives related to efficiency and equity, or economic, environmental, social and emancipatory dimensions. This could be made additionally difficult by the organization's membership homogeneity, misalignment of incentives between managers and members, increased reliance on external support etc. Social economy businesses. Social economy businesses (SEB) are situated at the overlap of the social economy and the private sector. This kind of hybrid organisations earn all or some part of their income from the marketplace  and they may be in competition with private sector organisations. As many businesses that are primarily viewed as part of a private sector have modified their business imperatives and taken on social business models, it can sometimes be difficult to distinguish between private sector and social economy businesses. The main difference with private sector organisations is that SEB are guided by social objectives that are reflected in their business mission and strategies and built into their structure. In other words, in case of SEB the prerogatives of capital do not dominate over the social objectives in the organization's decision  making. Examples of organizations. The term social and solidarity economy alludes to a wide scope of organizations that are recognized from ordinary revenue driven venture, business and casual economy by two center highlights. To start with, they have unequivocal monetary and social (and frequently ecological) goals. Second, they include differing types of co-employable, affiliated and solidarity relations. They include the following examples: