Social Economy: Communities, Economies and Solidarity in Atlantic Canada

Abstract

Social Economy: Communities, Economies and Solidarity in Atlantic Canada. Edited by Sonja Novkovic & Leslie Brown. Sydney, NS: Cape Breton University Press, 2012. 260 pp. ISBN 9781897009680The authors' goal in The Social Economy: Communities, Economies and Solidarity in Atlantic Canada is to provide "a snapshot of the social economy as seen through the work of a large and diverse collaborative research network." This is a very audacious task when one considers that in this edited book, Luc Theriault states the often-overlooked fact that the social economy "was relatively unknown in English-speaking Canada until a few years ago" (p. 23). Within the book, this premise-that outside of Quebec, the concept of social economy was not used or well understood prior to 2005-is shared amongst the authors; however, regardless of this self-identified challenge, the book manages to address and even go beyond this limitation by providing the reader something more thorough than a "snapshot."The Social Economy: Communities, Economies and Solidarity in Atlantic Canada is the result of the research of the Social Economy and Sustainability Research Network (SESRN), the Atlantic node of the Canada-wide Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) Social Economy Research Project. The book contributes to, from the Atlantic region perspective, the evolving Canada-wide research resulting from this funding and explains the compelling place and role of the social economy in this region. The book uses the depth and breadth of the SESRN research to portray four key areas: in Part One, a macro picture in The Social Economy of Atlantic Canada; in Part Two, local stories and case studies to review Mobilizing to Meet Community Needs; in Part Three, Evaluation and Measurements; and in Part Four, looking forward with Policy Directions for Social Economy.The book takes on the task of capturing the Atlantic research node efforts over the past six years and provides a very sound basis to understand the macro picture of the social economy in this region, especially in Parts One and Four; and on to the micro level with several case studies of social economy organizations particularly in Parts Two and Three. Sometimes the different and separate pieces of research findings made for difficult reading for me, with perspectives changing as I moved through the book, but then I realized that editorial methodology was essential in order to capture the breadth of engagement and the explorations of different uses of the collaborative research model in SESRN.The book is a fascinating exploration of social economy definition discussions combined with local communitybased case studies. Accomplishing this range of presentation of the research was done well, while still allowing for the fact that "within the SESRN, there is certainly no consensus on a definition [of the social economy]" (p. 192). Importantly, as is apparent throughout the book, "this has not prevented us from collaborating in research, and in policy analysis and dialogue" (p. 8). In fact, The Social Economy: Communities, Economies and Solidarity in Atlantic Canada deals directly with the issue of definition. …