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Solidarity Economy

Ten Principles Of Next Economy Enterprises

The 10 Principles of Next Economy Enterprises serve as critical guideposts for designing organizations from a socially just and environmentally regenerative perspective. They are emergent and malleable, derived from work with hundreds of social enterprises. Here is an outline of the 10 principles: Meet Basic Needs This principle prioritizes providing human-centered essentials like nourishing food, clean water, shelter, and medicine. It directly challenges the Business as Usual (BAU) economy, which is geared toward fulfilling greed rather than human need, by providing essentials without destroying habitat and ecosystems. Enterprises adhering to this principle also look for ways to consider ecosystem repair as an impact outcome of their business functions.

Chile’s Solidarity Economy Is Growing

Chile has emerged from decades of often brutal dictatorship under General Augusto Pinochet with a dynamic and growing economy—and deepened social and economic inequalities. Pinochet’s neoliberal economic policies have concentrated wealth among the few and left significant portions of the population behind. In 2017, 56 percent of the lowest-income population earned, on average, only $258 per month. In contrast, the richest 5 percent of the population had a per capita income of over $2,900 per month—11 times higher, according to Observatorio Social, a division of the Chilean Social Development and Family Agency, in 2018.

Digital Tools Fuel The Rise Of New ‘Time Exchange’ Solidarity Economies

In Kent, Ohio, older white women and immigrant families are forging unexpected connections through a time exchange network. Through time exchanges — sometimes called time banking — members earn time credits by helping others, then redeem them when they need assistance themselves. It’s not barter, or charity; time banking emphasizes reciprocal exchange, recognizing that everyone has something to offer, and that we all need help sometimes. “The time bank usually has a need for healthy young men,” laughed Dawn Albright, president of the Kent Community Time Bank’s board of directors. “I would say, 70 percent of the members are older women.” Younger immigrant members of the time bank often offer assistance with household tasks, like carrying heavy things up the stairs.

Systems Are Breaking And That’s Our Opportunity

A few months ago, I reconnected with a friend whom I had worked with on an initiative on ‘the sharing economy’. At the time, we were both ‘Young Global Leaders’ (YGLs) with the World Economic Forum. It was 2013, and we had volunteered our time to bring attention to how new technologies could be used to help everyone have a good life with less ecological impact. Personally, we were imagining a future of peer-to-peer resource sharing, community-based production, and cooperative ownership. Meeting up after years, we laughed that our work had oddly contributed to the World Economic Forum publishing the line that became infamous as a globalist’s dystopian injunction: “You will own nothing and be happy.”

Why We Need A Solidarity Economy Now

As people across the United States face massive cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and other vital programs, many are asking: What happens when the systems we rely on fail us? And what happens when our communities are torn apart by toxic inequality, political fragmentation and declining social trust? The solution may lie in something that humans have been doing throughout our existence: taking care of each other, often without realizing it. Today that’s what some of us call the “solidarity economy.” I first heard the term in late 2008, and I wasn’t impressed. I believe the term I used might have been something like “boutique-y.”

Amid Economic Uncertainty, A ‘Solidarity Economy’ Grows In DC

As tariffs threaten to drive up prices on everything from bananas to backpacks, and fears of a recession loom, many Americans wonder how they’ll continue to afford necessities. According to the Huffington Post, major retailers are already warning that shoppers will see emptier shelves and higher prices, especially for essentials like clothing and school supplies.  ABC News also reported that items such as laptops, toys and coffee could see price hikes. But amid this economic uncertainty, a different system is quietly taking root—one built not on profit but on cooperation.

ILO And Partners Advance Statistical Standards For Cooperatives

Following the joint kick-off meeting on 12 March 2025, the two Technical Working Groups held their first technical sessions on 28 and 29 April 2025. These meetings marked the beginning of their in-depth work to develop globally relevant statistical frameworks for cooperatives and the broader social and solidarity economy. The Committee for the Promotion and Advancement of Cooperatives (COPAC) Technical Working Group on Measuring the Economic Contribution of Cooperatives (TWG MECC)convened on 28 April for its first technical meeting. Olivier Frey, lead author on measuring the economic contribution of cooperatives, presented the rationale for a global measurement framework, emphasizing the need for conceptual clarity, relevant indicators, and a modular methodology adaptable across countries.

From Inner Change To Systemic Change

“Be the change you want to see in the world!” is the familiar counsel of great social movements. The advice echoes the lyric from the great African-American song, “This little light of mine, I’m gonna let it shine!” But how, exactly, might our inner epiphanies and transformations catalyze systemic change? We may individually develop new insights and values from wisdom traditions and contemplative practice, but how might they radiate out into something larger, collective, and consequential? At this particular moment in modern civilization, as societies grapple with climate change, savage inequalities, and authoritarian rule, the pathways for bringing about change seem terribly murky.

How Solidarity Economies Take Hold

In cities powerfully shaped by racial capitalism and economic exclusion, communities have long fought to reclaim their futures through economic solidarity and cooperation. This has been the case through the darkest stages of racial capitalist urban history and remains especially important in the face of a resurgent patriarchal white supremacy today. Our research, detailed in our new book “Solidarity Cities: Confronting Racial Capitalism, Mapping Transformation,” reveals a striking pattern: The very neighborhoods redlined into disinvestment and organized abandonment decades ago have become hubs of worker cooperatives, credit unions, community gardens and mutual aid networks that, together, constitute the decentralized but vibrant solidarity economy movement.

Chicago Clinic Offers Free Legal Aid To Solidarity Economy Groups

Chicago, Illinois, has a rich history of grassroots organizing. Notable examples are the Back of the Yards Neighborhood Council’s efforts to improve local economic and social conditions and the Black Panther Party’s establishment of housing cooperatives and free food, clothing, and medical services. The solidarity economy movement has continued to gain momentum in Chicago. In 2024, a map from the worker-owned ChiCommons Cooperative showed more than 800 solidarity enterprises, co-ops, and mutual aid groups in the city.

Building Regional Cooperative Ecosystems

Cooperative businesses, on principle and out of necessity, cannot exist in isolation! In order to survive and to create real, lasting economic impact in our communities, co-ops and our supporters must work together and be strategic. In this session, Building Regional Cooperative Ecosystems, from Beyond Business as Usual 2024: Co-Ops and the Next Economy, you will learn more about the concept of a "cooperative ecosystem" and hear lessons from organizers building regional cooperative ecosystems as part of the global solidarity economy movement.

Co-operatives Are At A Pivotal Point

When the United Nations General Assembly declared 2012 as the first International Year of Co-operatives, it seemed to herald a bright future for the movement. With the theme of “Co-operative Enterprises Build a Better World”, the International Year of Co-operatives had three main objectives: increasing awareness, promoting growth, and establishing appropriate policies.  As CWCF Executive Director Hazel Corcoran notes, it was a heady time. There were large events including a summit in Quebec City held that year, the international Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade was unveiled, and numerous smaller- scale events took place.

Introduction To DES: Solidarity Economy Districts

In today's video, we bring you an in-depth interview with representatives from the Verona Solidarity Economy District (DES). We will discover how the movement started, its roots in the Lilliput network in Varese, and how it has grown over the years to become an established reality in the field of solidarity economy. Topics covered in the video: - The origins of the DES: The history of the movement, from its early steps taken over 20 years ago thanks to the Lilliput network, to the founding of the DES in Varese and Verona. - The Lilliput network and the G8: How awareness of global dynamics, such as those of the G8, the International Monetary Fund, and the World Bank, influenced the birth of the DES.

Insights Into GAS: Solidarity Purchasing Groups

Discover what it means to be part of a Solidarity Purchase Group (GAS) through the interview with Vincenzo Vizioli, president of AIAB Umbria. With a journey that began in the late 1980s, Vincenzo explains how his choice for organic and biodynamic farming has evolved into a model of sustainability, cooperation, and mutualism. In the video, Vizioli tells the story of the Italian Organic Movement and the birth of GAS and IAP, highlighting the importance of sustainable agriculture and the need to promote social participation and community resilience. He then delves into the concept of GAS, explaining how these groups not only facilitate access to quality organic products but also promote a fair and solidarity-based economy.

The Role Of The Labor Movement In Solidarity Economy

Enjoy this panel discussion on the role of the labor movement in solidarity economy hosted by the Solidarity Economy Club at CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies from Friday, May 10 , 2024. Solidarity Economy is an internationalist framework that seeks to unify diverse community-based initiatives toward a values-centered alternative to capitalism. Some of these initiatives include cooperatives, community gardens, land trusts, tenant’s unions, care networks & more. There has been increasing attention on the role of the labor movement in solidarity economy as union leaders seek new ways to fight back against the increasing precarity caused by neoliberalism, automation and AI.
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