What does ‘solidarity economy’ mean? Contours and feasibility of a theoretical and political project

• Date: 01 October 2015
• Author: Pepita Ould Ahmed
• DOI: http://doi.org/10.1111/beer.12063
• Published date: 01 October 2015

What does ‘solidarity economy’

mean? Contours and feasibility

of a theoretical and political

project

Pepita Ould Ahmed

Institute of Research for Development (IRD), Paris, France

The market relationships are being contested. This can be seen in the increasing number of alternative social

experiments in the ‘North’ and the ‘South’ which propose to think out the present market relationships in a

different way, in particular in establishing exchange value and in facilitating access to trade. These practical

alternatives are supported by trends in academic circles that over the past three decades have opposed

neoliberal capitalism and individualism in today’s commercialised society. Calling for greater solidarity and

social justice in economic relationships, in particular, partisans of social and solidarity economics (SSE),

identifying with these trends, demand new forms of exchange. The objective of this article is to re-examine

these demands. What exactly do the SSE mean by ‘solidarity’ and ‘solidarity-based economy’? We would like

to trace the contours of this theoretical and political project and to assess the practicability of the proposed

alternative to neoliberal capitalism.

Introduction

The economic relationships that have developed over

the past three decades in capitalist societies are being

contested today on an increasingly widespread scale.

This can be seen in the increasing number of alter-

native social initiatives – in both the ‘North’ and the

‘South’ – which propose to think out the present

market relationships in a different way, in particular,

in establishing exchange value (Lee et al. 2004) and

in facilitating access to trade. These experiences con-

stitute an implicit denunciation of the strictly eco-

nomic approach to trade that considers the prices of

goods to be simply the result of competition (in

many cases unfair) between national economies, the

outcome of which is the progressive marginalisation

of the poorer economies, with working and living

conditions being pressed downwards in the process

of readjustment. To this, the critics oppose an

economy that instead of being based exclusively on

exchange value, takes into account a number of

non-economic factors in establishing prices. Their

arguments are supported not only by numerous

non-governmental organizations but also by local

authorities and a host of national and international

groupings and associations. They argue that con-

sumption should be seen not merely as a purely eco-

nomic issue but as a civic act opening up an area of

public interest. They also maintain that production

and wage–labour relationships should be organised

in new ways. Trade should entail recognition of pro-

ducers’ contributions by establishing a fair price.

Ethical, social, environmental and public health

criteria should be applied to production and distri-

bution. Fair trade, critical consumption and sustain-

able consumption: these ideas are proposed and put

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Business Ethics: A European Review

Volume 24 Number 4 October 2015

© 2014 The Author

Business Ethics: A European Review © 2014 John Wiley & Sons Ltd, 9600 Garsington Road,

Oxford OX4 2DQ, UK and 350 Main St, Malden, MA 02148, USA

doi: 10.1111/beer.12063

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