Au bénéfice de la crise? Pour un projet d’économie sociale et solidaire

<p>To meet the needs of society, especially in a period of economic crisis, the social economy needs a basic doctrinal framework. However, it is not currently unified. We propose approaching this issue by starting from the dual concepts of the social economy and the solidarity economy. Rather than ignore this duality we need to go beyond it by looking for aspects from each movement that may help a future project. After recalling the points in common (solidarity, freedom, equality, desire for non-violent social change), the article addresses three issues that provoke more discussion: the debate about general interest or collective interest, the market and commodification, and the importance of constitutions. At the conclusion of these discussions, it seems that bringing the social economy and the solidarity economy closer together is not insurmountable. The ability of the social and solidarity economy to deal with today&rsquo;s gigantic environmental, social and economic challenges depends on the ability of its players to perform their twin economic and political role, which allows the worker or user to be an associate, cooperator and mutualist &ndash; a member participating in exercising power.</p>