Social And Solidarity Economy Research Articles

Development of Community and Agricultural Associations through Social and Solidarity Economy with Collaboration of University

The Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) is a unique economic model that addresses contemporary community problems by democratising the economy through activities that promote sustainability, solidarity, and collective prosperity. Research on the SSE has increased in recent years, showing its potential as an alternative to dominant economic schemes. This article aims to analyse how the SSE can contribute to sustainability in rural sector associations in Ecuador through the Participatory Action Research (PAR) method. This method empowers various stakeholders, including the community, associations, and the university, to be actively involved in designing, developing, and implementing solutions to alleviate their problems. The results show that in the context of a developing country, this active participation, interaction, and commitment can identify the various problems that the rural sector and its associations are experiencing. This situation allows for possible joint action solutions, involving people who usually do not have decision-making power or are vulnerable, by diagnosing their socio-economic conditions and establishing a training programme where knowledge production is democratic, thus combining theoretical and practical elements according to the needs detected.

Transformative approaches for peace-centred sustainable development: The role of social and solidarity economy

The 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development aims to forge a more equitable and sustainable world by integrating peace and development efforts. Despite this ambition, challenges persist as these initiatives often operate in isolation, limiting their collective impact. Moreover, the most affected populations by conflicts find themselves trapped without resources or capabilities. The lack of development often exacerbates underlying conditions, leading to recurring conflicts. The question arises then: How can vulnerable groups overcome these barriers collectively?The Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) emerges as a transformative approach to achieving peace-centred sustainable development. SSE is a people-centred and nature-responsible economic model characterised by voluntary cooperation, collective goods, local action, and democratic governance. Additionally, SSE initiatives contribute significantly to achieving various Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), fostering resilience, promoting well-being, and reducing inequalities. Although SSE is revolutionary in its principles, it has yet to be studied in an interdisciplinary manner within peace and conflict studies. This review article explores the potential of integrating SSE into peacebuilding and development agendas. Our study provides policy recommendations to enhance the impact of SSE on achieving the SDGs and promoting peace. We also identify barriers and limitations, advocating for an integrated approach to ensure collective and solidarity-driven development.

Towards a cooperative education at university? The example of a master’s degree in Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE)

El presente artículo tiene el objetivo de exponer los resultados de un programa de formación universitaria en Economía Social y Solidaria (ESS) realizado en la Universidad de Alta Alsacia, Francia, bajo la mirada del paradigma de las transacciones sociales. Luego de una breve introducción sobre el origen histórico de la economía social y de la economía social-solidaria, donde las mutuales y cooperativas ocupan un lugar importante, se exponen los resultados del Programa ilustrando los desafíos dentro de un clima de toma de decisiones, negociaciones y transacciones varias entre los actores sociales comprometidos y el público objetivo participante.

Social and solidarity economy and social inclusion of cooperatives in the Assin Fosu Municipality, Ghana

The social and solidarity economy (SSE) model is an alternative strategy to the neoliberal hegemonic paradigm amid global economic and political uncertainties and its associated decline in living conditions, inequalities and social exclusion. In response to these inadequacies, the study explored how cooperatives in the Assin Fosu Municipality of Ghana promote social inclusion, focusing on farm-based cooperatives. Using a mixed-method approach, quantitative data were collected from 175 randomly sampled members of six farm-based cooperatives and triangulated with qualitative data from the executives of the cooperatives who were constituted into a focus group. Data were described using descriptive statistics and the associations and effects were tested with the chi-square and binary logistic regression tools. We found that cooperatives promote social inclusion by facilitating access to productive and financial resources with members of credit-based cooperatives experiencing high social inclusion. Members with smaller households had more social status because they could engage in more social and economic activities within their communities and groupings. We recommended access to credit and productive resources and long-term birth control measures as these factors are sine qua non for high social inclusion.

Morocco's Entrepreneurial Landscape and Social Impact Funding Ecosystem During the COVID-19 Pandemic

Many entrepreneurial and other collective initiatives create social impact in addition to economic gains. In this paper, we will discuss these initiatives with a focus on the financing ecosystem that is crucial to these organizations. We first discuss the social and solidarity economy before talking about entrepreneurship and social enterprises. We focus next on cooperatives, which are very important in our context for the impact they contribute to achieve. The topic of the social and solidarity economy (SSE) in Morocco garners extensive attention within economic, political, and academic circles. Given the unique Moroccan backdrop, regional advancements, demographic dynamics, and economic traits, it accentuates considerable social issues and amplifies the significance of SSE entities, especially concerning their target audience. The SSE landscape, comprising a diverse array of organizations, has continually adapted and expanded since the country gained independence to address the distinct features of its environment.

State of the art: “social and solidarity economy as a driver of sustainability

The article presents a comprehensive analysis of the current state of convergence between Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) and sustainability, covering the period from 2009 to 2023. SSE, with its principles of cooperation, equity, and citizen participation, is considered a key tool for addressing inequality and promoting decent employment, while sustainability focuses on improving living conditions without compromising the future. The article argues that SSE promotes sustainable economic practices aligned with the 2030 Agenda. The proposed methodology combines heuristic and hermeneutic approaches, allowing for a thorough and up-to-date review of the literature on SSE and sustainability. The application of SSE in various regions is illustrated through case studies that encompass areas such as urban agriculture, circular economy, recycling cooperatives, and socioeconomic development projects. Overall, it is emphasized that the combination of SSE and sustainability offers a promising approach to addressing socio-environmental challenges, highlighting cooperation, inclusion, and the pursuit of a sustainable and equitable future.

Social and solidarity economy in the cultural field: governance as a transforming lever? A comparison between three French organizations

PurposeThis paper aims to analyze the “crafts” of governance within social and solidarity economy (SSE) cultural organizations, considering formal and informal rules, to support their project of democratization of arts and culture and more generally of cultural democracy. The hypothesis is that it is through participatory and democratic governance that SSE can have a transformative role.Design/methodology/approachThis paper builds upon a qualitative, multiple case study of three SSE organizations in the performing arts and audiovisual production in France. Although different in age, size and legal form, they all experiment a more participative governance system, not without tensions, to face deep institutional changes in their environment.FindingsThe results show that legal forms from the SSE are necessary safeguards but not sufficient to effectively implement a democratic governance beyond the “one member, one vote” principle. Democratic governance is supported by both formal and informal rules. By experimenting with innovative participative and democratic governance rules, these organizations contribute to the transformation of practices in the cultural field (democratization of art and culture) but also in society at large by fostering cultural democracy.Research limitations/implicationsBuilding upon three case studies, this exploratory work stresses important issues that are worth to explore on a larger scale to understand by which levers SSE can play a transformative role in the cultural field.Originality/valueThis paper contributes to the literature on SSE and on governance by enlarging the analysis beyond the board of directors and the statutory rules. Applying the approach of collective action and reasonable values developed by Commons to SSE, it shows that participatory governance cannot be based on an ideal or a choice of preestablished values and principles but must leave room for creativity and representations of stakeholders not only to support transformation of practices within the cultural field but also externally by increasing cultural democracy.

Exploring the Renewable Energy Linkages for SSEBased Organizations in India: Benefits of Scaling Up ‘Atmanirbhar Bharat’ at Microsocieties

The Indian government initiated the Atmanirbhar Bharat Abhiyan to make its citizens ‘atmanirbhar’, or self-reliant. We argue that self-reliance can be achieved through self-sufficiency at the societal level. Next, we review the extant literature on self-sufficiency and theorize its linkages with social and solidarity economy (SSE) in the context of electric power generation. The participatory and democratic nature of governance in decision-making processes is one of the main principles of the SSE sector. Variations in democratic governance and inclusive participation in SSE depend on SSE structure. Subsequently, we move into the focus areas of the article, where the purpose is to explore the linkages between the development of SSE initiatives and sustainable development goals focused on environmental protection and sustainable production and consumption. Scaling up and solarizing agricultural pump sets have been good initiatives at addressing issues around agriculture, water and electricity requirement. This study explores SSE initiatives that address these issues and explores scaling up and linking with institutions and policies at the macro level. The study presents empirical evidence of such initiatives in the renewable energy sector. This article is expected to contribute to the existing literature on SSEs and offer insights on how scaling up SSEs can help in sustainable rural development, which would lead to self-sufficiency and subsequently self-reliance at a societal level. JEL Classifications: D71, Q20, P48

Virtuous circles: Transformative impact and challenges of the social and solidarity circular economy

AbstractThe conventional view tends to consider the social dimension of the circular economy as conspicuous by its absence. This paper draws attention to business strategies and organisational practices that bring together the valorisation of wasted material resources and marginalised people. Theoretically, we build on the literature on hybrid forms of organisation and management typical of the social and solidarity economy (SSE)—for example, social cooperatives—to introduce a more realistic and dynamic model of social and solidarity circular economy (SSCE). Offering a definition of SSCE based on existing hybrid organisational practices rather than abstract ideals, we juxtapose the SSCE and the current corporate‐led CE approach across three key dimensions: strategic aims; organisational boundaries and governance mechanisms. To illustrate how this SSCE works, we focus on the case of CAUTO, an Italian network of circular social cooperatives based in Northern Italy. We identify three intertwined steps through which CAUTO developed an effective SSCE strategy: social circular innovation, networked actions and participatory scaling up. Taken together, our findings suggest a realistic pathway to business circularity that is inclusive, pragmatic and embedded in social practices.

Social and solidarity economy insights for the circular economy: Limited-profit and sufficiency

Given the call for societal transformations to foster sustainability transitions, we consider in what way the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) contributes to a more circular society. We build on recent critiques of mainstream Circular Economy (CE) and engage with the notion of sufficiency, with respect to defining limits for and by society, in considering social and ecological imperatives over profit motives. The main aim of our article is to analyse the implications of the normative principles and values of the SSE for ensuring an integral circularity approach. For that purpose, we conducted qualitative research involving 26 in-depth interviews with 31 key informants from 20 initiatives in two case studies: SSE networks in the Basque Country and Western Switzerland. We reveal how one of the guiding principles of the SSE – limited-profit – is a clear basis for a distinctive circularity approach towards sufficiency. Our main contribution is to demonstrate how SSE principles foster specific characteristics of the Sufficiency-driven Business Model (SBM) and shape an integral social circularity approach. This perspective on circularity results in entities that embrace the following measures: seeking to transform the economic system as a whole; prioritizing the implementation of the more transformative Rs (Refuse, Rethink, Reduce); recognizing limited profit as a core distinctive principle; minimizing overall consumption; raising conscious consumer engagement (satisfying needs over wants); fostering stakeholders’ cooperation and collaboration; and maximizing social and ecological aims over economic profitability.

Value Addition to Sustainable Economic Growth of Sub-Sahara Africa: The Path of Social and Solidarity Economy

The recent global economic and political unrest, depletion of natural resources, climate and ecosystem changes, destructions, the impact of prolonged Covid-19, widening social equality and income losses and economic contraction have greatly affected sub-Saharan Africa, thereby exacerbating the preexisting vulnerabilities in the region. It becomes evident to confirm the necessity for a complementary development model for growth to improve production, governance, overall social wellbeing of the people, and the environment of the region. Hence, the strong advocate for the path of Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) organizations which is and has been a “bottom-up" strategic collective initiative with local roots, which support efforts for transformative and social innovation. This no doubt adds greater value to the sustainable economic growth of the region in comparison to other climes.

Building a Better World: The Contribution of Cooperatives and SSE Organizations to Decent Work and Sustainable Development

The ILO’s recognition of the social and solidarity economy (SSE), with an internationally accepted definition, pointed out its important role in achieving sustainable development goals, which aim at fostering inclusive and sustainable economic growth, employment and decent work for all, and reducing inequalities. This article stresses the essential role of cooperatives in achieving the objectives of sustainable development and decent work. It clarifies the relationships among the social and solidarity economy, corporate social responsibility, and responsible business conduct. It shows why the SSE, which consists of value- and principle-driven/based units, is particularly relevant to improving accountability in business and society. This article especially focuses on the contribution of SSE businesses to decent work using examples from different ILO reports in a qualitative and thematic approach. It proposes some critical thoughts on the cooperative model and recommendations for reinforcing commitments to the achievement of sustainable development goals.

The Role of Cooperatives in Mitigating the Effects of the Eco-Climate Crisis

In the context of this paper, the climate crisis will be treated first as a facet of the overall systemic biosphere crisis and second as a multiplier of existing crises, which are independent of each other, but which unfold in synergy, evolving together in interdependence. In such a context, the report refers, at the first level, to the characteristics and causes of the ecological and climate crisis. Then, the dominant logic that runs through the “green” deal currently promoted by the EU, will be explored to address this crisis. This logic only prolongs ineffective symptomatic “treatments”, while leading, in the long run, to the reproduction of the same vicious circles that nurtured the growing crisis. We propose as a solution a Copernican revolution in our mindsets, which will allow us to see in a different light the ways of dealing with the consequences of the ecological climate crisis. This will mark a “tipping point” — a paradigm shift in a post-growth direction where the institutions of the social and solidarity economy (SSE), being exemplary, are called upon to provide a transformative contribution. Among these institutions, the cooperatives, which are governed by SSE’s constituent principles, express a mild and “bottom-up” local and democratic economic activity, based on an economy of needs and not sizes. Through a multidisciplinary and multifaceted literature approach, this paper seeks to highlight the role of the SSE and, in particular, of cooperatives in mitigating the effects of the eco-climate crisis and in formulating feasible proposals and solutions.

Missing worldview in the economic agenda of Bharatiya Janata Party: what can be learned from Social and Solidarity Economy?

ABSTRACT This article presents an overview of the transition of economic agenda of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) which has been in power in India since 2014. This economic policy is often criticised for lack of a worldview of economic realities. This article seeks to draw lessons from Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) in the shaping of a theoretical foundation for the economic agenda of the BJP. It critically analyses how the principles of SSE identify with the ideological currents of the BJP’s economic agenda in relation to the recognition of the third sector, cooperation, governance principles and edifying values.

The Social and Solidarity Economy, a New Solution to Decrease Unemployment in Morocco? Case of Cooperatives in the State of Tangier Tetouan Al-Hoceima

In recent years, the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) has developed profusely in Morocco. Today, it is considered as a real instrument capable to provide solutions to the various socio-economic problems. In fact, the actors of the SSE, more specifically “the cooperatives”, create annually tens of thousands of jobs for the benefit of the most marginalized individuals. The aim of this scientific article is to show how important SSE is to decrease unemployment, and the role that cooperatives play to create job opportunities in the state of Tangier, Tetouan, Al-Hoceima (TTA). The results of this research, based on this study, have allowed to come up with some strategic orientations that are necessary to create economic and social solutions which will lead to the development of the SSE and the decline of unemployment. 

Social Cooperatives as an Element of Solidarity Economy

Global economic and political instability has highlighted the shortcomings of the current global economic system and reaffirmed the need for an alternative or complementary development paradigm. The Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) is a sustainable solution to rebalance economic, social, and environmental goals. The analysis of scientific literature demonstrates the actualization in the world academic discourse of the problem related to the social solidarity economy, part of which is the cooperative form of socio-economic organization. The article deals with an interdisciplinary study of the place and role of cooperatives in the structure of SSE (Social and Solidarity Economy), international experience of the functioning of cooperation as an organizational form that consistently implements the principles of a socially-oriented economy, its legal regulation, and the mechanism of updates in the socio-economic process. The differences between social cooperatives and other types of social enterprises in countries with successful economies are considered. The SSE essential features and their correlation with cooperative principles of activity are shown. Based on an analysis of world experience, various ways of providing and accessing financial resources to support the SSE organizations and their ecosystems growth have been defined.

Family Farming and Social and Solidarity Economy Enterprises in the Amazon: Opportunities for Sustainable Development

A research gap in the scientific literature has arisen concerning the challenge faced by actors who formulate public policies on the compatibility between economic activities and sustainable development in the Amazon. The main question that guided this study was whether the organizations of the social and solidarity economy (SSE), in the form of family farming cooperatives and associations, are sufficiently consolidated in the Brazilian Legal Amazon. To achieve the intended objective, the authors used the ArcGIS Pro 10.8 software with an exploratory analysis of spatial data (AEDE). Specifically, the mapping clusters tool was used to present and discuss the distribution of establishments and enterprises in a municipality. The database was the “2017 Agricultural Census” from the Brazilian Institute of Geography and Statistics (IBGE), the most recent official government data available. Establishments and enterprises of family farming in the 772 municipalities of the Legal Amazon with credit access in a period between August 2017 and February 2019 were selected for analysis. We confirmed the hypothesis that SSE projects are essential to achieve sustainability in the Amazon. In addition, this study suggests that this model can be an essential alternative to support public policies for the sustainable development of the biome.

Organizing Workers in the Informal Economy in Selected African and Latin American Countries: The Potential of Trade Union and Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) partnerships

The article gives an account of the result of the research developed in response to the call made by the International Labour Organization (ILO) and the Open Society Foundations (OSF) in 2021 to carry out a project that would identify the potential of the link between unions and cooperatives to organize workers in the informal economy in African and Latin American countries. Researchers from ODI, London, with the collaboration of researchers and practitioners from Brazil, Colombia, Ghana, Kenya and Uganda, identified and documented partnership examples through which to shed light development processes, identify learning on successes and challenges, and inform recommendations for future support. A country case study of Colombia is provided to illustrate the variety, complexity and possibilities of the topic studied. Three nascent partnership experiences, linked in different ways to the social and solidarity economy, demonstrate the potential of this approach to promote fair trade, responsible consumption and local markets, boost entrepreneurship and create decent working conditions for workers who traditionally face informality.

Impact of cooperative entrepreneurship on territorial human development in Morocco – Spatial analysis

PurposeThis paper deals with the spatial impact of cooperative entrepreneurship on territorial human development in Morocco. Within the background of the new development model in Morocco, this study aims to explore how the social and solidarity economy (SSE) through the cooperative model can reduce territorial inequalities by promoting economic dynamics in territories with suboptimal human development.Design/methodology/approachThe empirical material is compiled from a database of 75 provinces in Morocco. After establishing a typology of the SSE in these territories, a test of the spatial effect of some indicators, such as the rate of urbanization and female employment, was undertaken. Moreover, a spatial impact study of the cooperatives' entrepreneurship and the local human development index will be carried out among the cooperatives' numbers and the share of their members.FindingsThis study's results indicate a diversity in the participation of the SSE in the regulation of territories. First, there is a heterogeneous relationship in the Moroccan space. Then, the cooperative model in Morocco shows that it plays a central role in readjusting social and spatial inequalities, pointing territories with suboptimal human development.Research limitations/implicationsAlthough our theoretical contribution covers the impact of the three components of the SSE on territorial human development in Morocco. The empirical work of this study is limited to only one component of the SSE which are the cooperatives. The future perspectives of this work are to follow the impact of the three components after the implementation of the new development model in Morocco.Practical implicationsThe main implication of this study is to map out the spatial role of cooperatives in territorial planning in Morocco. Policy makers still need to consolidate the implication of the cooperatives as a tool for promoting spatial equity, through the governance and the convergence between the different support and accompaniment programs for cooperatives in areas of human development deprivation.Originality/valueThe originality of this work comes from the exploration of the spatial dimension for the analysis of the role of the cooperatives for the promotion of a territorial human development. The SSE typologies described in the Moroccan provinces can allow actors to develop a business plan for the implementation of SSE initiatives.

The dynamics of inter-organizational cooperation in Economic Interest Groups: Case of EIG TARGANINE in Morocco

Inter-organizational cooperation has become a major challenge for the development of organizations. Inter-organizational relations are enormously successful in terms of cooperation, especially when talking about Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) companies. Today, several forms of cooperation appeared in Morocco with the creation of groups, unions, networks and federations. Through this paper, we study the dynamics of inter-organizational cooperation and its contribution to the economic and social development of an Economic Interest Grouping (EIG) of women's cooperatives in Argan. We proceed for our analysis according to the dialectical approach as it was adopted by Dameron (2001, 2002), via the study of the cooperation relations of the EIG TARGANINE, based on a qualitative approach carried out by semi-structured interviews carried out with the president of the EIG and the leaders of the member cooperatives.
 
 Keywords 
 Cooperation, Inter-organizational relations, EIG, Cooperative, Economic and social development.