Concept
Solidarity economy
Also known as: Économie sociale et solidaire, ESS
An umbrella framework encompassing cooperative, non-profit, mutual-aid, fair-trade, community-supported agriculture, community land trusts, time-banking, and other economic forms organized around solidarity rather than profit-maximization. The term emerged in 1980s-90s Latin America (especially Brazil — economia solidária) and France (économie sociale et solidaire); now used internationally. The U.S. Solidarity Economy Network (SEN) and the international RIPESS network coordinate the movement. Functionally distinct from but overlapping with the sharing economy, gift economy, commons, and regenerative-finance frameworks.
What’s included
The solidarity economy framework encompasses:
- Cooperatives — worker, consumer, producer, multi-stakeholder
- Community land trusts — see [[community-land-trust]]
- [[community-supported-agriculture|Community-supported agriculture]] — see [[community-supported-agriculture]]
- Time-banks and mutual-aid networks
- Local and complementary currencies
- Fair-trade networks
- Worker-owned businesses
- Public banks (in the solidarity-banking sense)
- Social enterprises and B-corps (sometimes; contested)
- Indigenous and traditional economies
- Open-source and commons-based production
The framework holds these forms together as a coherent alternative-economic project rather than treating each as a separate practice.
Origin and spread
The term economia solidária emerged in 1980s-90s Latin America, particularly Brazil under the Lula government, which created a Ministry of Solidarity Economy. The French économie sociale et solidaire (ESS) is a related parallel framework with substantial legal recognition (France’s 2014 ESS law).
International coordination through:
- RIPESS — Inter-Continental Network for the Promotion of Social Solidarity Economy
- U.S. Solidarity Economy Network (SEN) — North American coordinating body
- Various regional networks — across Europe, Latin America, Africa, Asia
See also
Auto-generated from this entry’s typed relations: frontmatter, grouped by relation type so the editorial signal isn’t flattened.
- Shares approach with: [[regenerative-finance]] · [[commons]] · [[gift-economy]]
Sources
- Solidarity Economy I & II, RIPESS publications
- The Politics of Solidarity Economy, Marcos Arruda (2008)
- U.S. Solidarity Economy Network (ussen.org)
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