English

Immediately following World War II, Emilia-Romagna was one of the last regions in Italy in terms of standard of living. Today, Emilia-Romagna is one of the top 20 most prosperous regions in Europe. Emilia- Romagna has the highest per capita income in Italy and the most equitable distribution of wealth: wages are high, and the difference between rich and poor is lower than anywhere else on the peninsula.

The social and solidarity economy are concepts that have become increasingly recognised and used in Quebec since 1995. Following the examples of certain European, as well as Latin American countries, these terms emerged in Quebec as part of a growing will and desire on the part of social movements to propose an alternative model of development, in response to the dominant neo-liberal model. The emergence of this movement has not been without debate, nor obstacles. In fact, the contours and composition of the social economy are still being determined; its definition continues to evolve.

Over the last twenty years, a profound change has taken place in the relationship between citizens and their governments. In the western democracies, the gradual transformation of social care into a commercial commodity has fundamentally altered the role of government as the primary provider of social care and public welfare. This change in the relations between the state and the citizenry has been marked by starkly different perspectives, deep conflict, and the radical realignment of social and state institutions.

Whilst economies all over the world in the late 1970s and 1980s set into recession and stagnation, frequently accompanied by serious deteriorations in labour and social conditions, rising unemployment, and insecurity, a few localities stood out as exhibiting a remarkable resilience and even growth. They were engaged in a variety of industries, and included not only advanced sectors but also more traditional, labour-intensive ones, and thereby posed a challenge to those who have argued that such economic activities can no longer succeed in high wage industrialised countries. Thus,

To what extent do workers exert control within the workplace, and exercise voice in how the income generated by firms is distributed? And do they have ownership—not just in an affective sense, but in terms of share holdings or membership rights? The financial crisis opened up widespread discussion about prevailing modes of economic organization. But, for the most part, this discussion has been quite narrowly bounded, oscillating between two familiar poles. This paper tries to contribute to such a conversation by offering a macro-comparative backdrop.

This paper argues the conjecture that worker cooperatives (WCs) are rare because of competitive disadvantages relative to conventionally-owned firms (CFs) is not supported by existing research. It surveys research on the survival and failure of WCs and CFs and estimates the nonparametric hazard and survival functions for CFs in the US. Because the rarity of WCs cannot be attributed to performance it must result from a low formation rate.

This is the draft conference paper submitted by the same author as 037 for the 2013 UNRISD conference on the potential and limits of the Social and Solidarity Economy

A slide show presented at a 2013 UNRISD conference on the social and solidarity economy. The author presents the broad principles and concepts associated with the SSE (social/solidarity economy) as a response to five challenges: the green challenge, the inclusion challenge, the wellbeing challenge, the moral challenge, and the governance challenge

This report from UNESCO describes the underpinnings and prevalence of the solidarity economy, as well as the potential for its use as a tool of international development, poverty alleviation, and equitable sustainable development

The co-operative movement has always had uneasy relationship with Marxist philosophy and tradition that concentrated on state ownership. Yet co-operatives are socially owned and operated organizations that operate, theoretically at least, on a non-profit basis, driven by member needs and not capital. For instance, worker co-operatives would not accumulate the “surplus labour” in Marx’s labour theory of value, leaving them immune to accusations of exploitation and worker alienation.