L’économie sociale et solidaire : utopie, alternative, réforme ?

<p>Is the social and solidarity economy –the groups, enterprises and organizations that seek to fulfill collective human needs and have chosen to function democratically– a utopia, an alternative or a reform? Like any project, the social and solidarity economy project entails a conceptual phase and an implementation phase. In its conception, this project represents an alternative utopia distinct from the Marxist utopia. In its implementation, the ability to promote cooperative practices in the widest possible field of action reveals the alternative dimension of the social and solidarity economy. To broaden this field further, the meaning of cooperation needs to be re-considered. A connection needs to be made between the meaning that is specific to the social economy and the common usage of the term, which is also used in conventional academic research. Threatened by pressures from the mainstream, the social economy has devised its own unique rules for operating in both the socio-economic and legal spheres. These cooperative rules are continuously debated and result from a process of mutual learning.</p>