Economía social (es) y economía solidaria (ESOL) en Brasil: consideraciones conceptuales y prácticas en pro de la construcción de alternativas socio económicas al desarrollo territorial.

Abstract

In the context of deep transformations in the labor market, which has been intensified by the current financial crisis and its repercussions, the importance of government measures aimed at generating employment and income, and the practices of Solidarity Economics (SOEC) are shown to be an interesting alternative to addressing this issue. These practices are intended to build solidarity economic enterprises which allow workers excluded from the labour market to generate income. Studies on Social Economics in Brazil are gradually constituting a research line of distinct characteristics within Social Economics, specifically in studies on the cooperative movement and on organizations of the tertiary sector (Serva & Andion ,2006; Morais, 2007). In Brazil, a myriad of social players develop SOEC practices with different viewpoints ranging from those with a more paternalistic approach, those with an entrepreneurial emphasis and those which seek full autonomy for the individual in the political, social and economic spheres. The latter gives importance to the practices of self-management, solidarity and full power to the workers within the Solidary Economic Enterprises (SEE). Most scholars tend toward this approach, initially developed by Singer (2000), who later implemented a support program for SOEC in the Federal Government (Singer, 2002). From this point of view, public policies play a major role in making solidarity experiences viable (Gaiger, 2004; Leite, 2008). In a context where proposals of policies aimed at this area are progressing significantly in Brazil, above all with respect to the possibilities of continuation and with the strengthening of society as a whole (Girard, 2006).