DOCSLIB.ORG

Alternative Currency and Market Relations in Mexico

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
Alternative Currency and Market Relations in Mexico From Client to Comrade: Alternative Currency and Market Relations in Mexico A thesis submitted to the University of Manchester for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Faculty of Humanities 2019 Jeremy John Gunson Department of Social Anthropology School of Social Sciences [Blank page] 2 Table of Contents List of Maps and Figures .................................................................. 4 Abstract ............................................................................................. 5 DECLARATION .............................................................................. 6 COPYRIGHT STATEMENT ........................................................... 6 Acknowledgements ........................................................................... 7 Glossary of terms .............................................................................. 8 Anacronyms and abreviations ........................................................... 9 Introduction: Money, Value and Autonomy in Contemporary Mexico ............................................................................................ 10 Chapter 1: ‘For us the túmin is a weapon’ ...................................... 40 Chapter 2: Espinal: ‘La cuna del túmin’ ......................................... 72 Chapter 3: MAT network politics ................................................. 107 Chapter 4: ‘We eat what we produce’: Value(s) in the Mercado Túmin Puebla ................................................................................ 136 Chapter 5: Rituals and Tianguis in the MAT ................................ 164 Conclusion .................................................................................... 191 References ..................................................................................... 196 Word Count: 81, 231 3 List of Maps and Figures Map 1: Main field site locations mentioned in this thesis ………………………... 39 Figure I.1: ‘In the Balance’, The MAT and Banxico ……………………………... 30 Figure 1.1: First emission of túmin with Zapata and Diego Rivera designs ……... 44 Figure 2.1: ‘Espinal, La cuna del túmin’ …………………………………………. 89 Figure 2.2: Displays in Cyber Castell …………………………………………….. 89 Figure 2.3: Mateo on the Kgosni round …………………………………………... 102 Figure 2.4: Mateo and Cenorina ………………………………………………….. 102 Figure 3.1: New members of the tumista family from Guerrero …………………. 113 Figure 3.2: Casa Túmin Canvas being hung in Texcoco …………………………. 123 Figure 3.3: Bottling honey – solidarity in action …………………………………. 123 Figure 4.1 Mercado Túmin ‘cooperation box’ ……………………………………. 156 Figure 4.2: Selene giving a workshop in the Mercado Túmin ……………………. 157 Figure 4.3: Magda harvesting beetroot for sale in the Mercado Túmin ………….. 157 Figure 5.1: Tumista Ritual offering ………………………………………………. 165 4 Abstract This thesis is an ethnographic exploration into people’s attempts to re-signify the meanings of money and market relations in contemporary Mexico. The thesis looks at producers, traders and service providers who are striving to institute their own economic system through a project called the Mercado Alternativo Túmin (MAT, or Alternative Market of the Túmin). In essence, the MAT is a solidarity economy network, held together by an alternative currency called the túmin. The túmin is both the material and symbolic basis through which the tumistas (project members) strive to create the conditions for a good life together. It acts as a medium for imagining and creating social relations guided by the project’s foundational principles of trust, solidarity, mutual aid and autonomy. Drawing on 18 months of ethnographic research conducted in multiple field sites, the thesis narrates and analyses part of the MAT story as it grew from a small, localised affair in a small rural town, to a nationwide network made up of individuals and collectives across the country. The chapters look at the multiple manifestations of the MAT in different settings, documenting how the tumistas understand and engage with their project according to their particular life trajectories and contexts. I argue that the tumistas overwhelmingly engage with the project as a vehicle through which they can imagine and enact their visions of a good life. This is most commonly expressed through values and a sense of dignity, which they feel have been denied to them living under the conditions of neoliberal capitalism. The MAT provides a framework through which the tumistas can reflect on their position in the world, and make ethical judgements and decisions which inform their actions towards constructing a better life for themselves and their fellows. I suggest that we can understand the MAT as a process of collective and self-transformation through which a certain sort of person – a compañero solidario (a solidary comrade) – is formed.1 The ethnography focuses on how the tumistas strive to enact and materialise their ideas about alternative values and ethics; efforts which inevitably exist alongside and often in tension with pre-existing social forces, relations and imaginaries. Given the growing interest in the ‘solidarity economy’ in recent years from activists, scholars and policy makers alike, a study of the MAT is a worthy endeavour. I contribute an ethnographic study that takes seriously the multiple possibilities and contradictions that arise when the solidarity economy is lifted from the page and animated in real life. I also contribute to ongoing conversations in the anthropology of money and to debates on the value question, as well as providing insight and inspiration for all those who contend that ‘another world is possible.’ 1 The term compañero is widely used in Latin America to denote relationships such as those between classmates or work colleagues, yet it has deeper connotations of equality and solidarity. Commonly employed in contexts of struggle and political mobilisation, the term usually translates as ‘comrade’. 5 DECLARATION No portion of the work referred to in the thesis has been submitted in support of an application for another degree or qualification of this or any other university or other institute of learning. COPYRIGHT STATEMENT The author of this thesis (including any appendices and/or schedules to this thesis) owns certain copyright or related rights in it (the “Copyright”) and s/he has given The University of Manchester certain rights to use such Copyright, including for administrative purposes. Copies of this thesis, either in full or in extracts and whether in hard or electronic copy, may be made only in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988 (as amended) and regulations issued under it or, where appropriate, in accordance with licensing agreements which the University has from time to time. This page must form part of any such copies made. The ownership of certain Copyright, patents, designs, trademarks and other intellectual property (the “Intellectual Property”) and any reproductions of copyright works in the thesis, for example graphs and tables (“Reproductions”), which may be described in this thesis, may not be owned by the author and may be owned by third parties. Such Intellectual Property and Reproductions cannot and must not be made available for use without the prior written permission of the owner(s) of the relevant Intellectual Property and/or Reproductions. Further information on the conditions under which disclosure, publication and commercialisation of this thesis, the Copyright and any Intellectual Property University IP Policy (see http://documents.manchester.ac.uk/display.aspx?DocID=24420), in any relevant Thesis restriction declarations deposited in the University Library, The University Library’s regulations (see http://www.library.manchester.ac.uk/about/regulations/) and in The University’s policy on Presentation of Theses. 6 Acknowledgements First, I would like to thank my supervisors Peter Wade and Karen Sykes for their close support and fine intellectual insight and inspiration over the last few years. I am extremely grateful for our conversations, and their generous thoughts and comments on many drafts of the following chapters, as well as their patience with my writing process over some rough patches. I would also like to thank Chris Gregory for organising such a stimulating reading group on the value question while I was studying my MA – a formative experience that was fundamental to developing ideas in the following thesis. I am forever grateful for my time at the Institute of Latin American Studies in Liverpool, and thank all the faculty staff and my classmates (2006-2010) for contributing to my academic formation. A special dedication goes to the late great Steve Rubenstein, who changed my world with Anthropology. I am indebted to all my tumista family, from whom I learnt far more than that which is included in the following pages, and whose creativity and conviction provide me with a constant source of fascination, motivation and hope. In particular, I would like to thank Irene, Mateo, Cenorina, Juan, Lucero, Alejandra, Consuelo, Ana Bertha, Mayeli, Iván, Selene, Everardo, Mario, Janet, Rubi, Pável, Magda and Benja, Vero, Silvia, Fabiola, Belinka, Iliana, Aurora, Rufina and Marco. To my good friends and family across Mexico, who have helped (and been patient with) me over the years and with whom I have spent many wonderful moments: Coty, Alfredo, Zuribi, Alfredo, Juliana, Elenor, José Antonio, Rafa and Paola, Gerardo and Daniel. For the help and support of colleagues at CIESAS Golfo, especially Ernesto
Load more

Recommended publications
  • Sustainability, the Social Economy, and the Eco-Social Crisis: Traveling Concepts and Bridging Fields
    View metadata, citation and similar papers at core.ac.uk brought to you by CORE provided by Athabasca University Library Institutional Repository Sustainability, the Social Economy, and the Eco-social Crisis: Traveling Concepts and Bridging Fields by Lena K. Soots Centre for Sustainable Community Development – Simon Fraser University BC–Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance (BALTA) Michael Gismondi Athabasca University BC–Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance (BALTA) June 2008 LKSoots & MGismondi (June 2008) 1 Copyright © 2010, Canadian Centre for Community Renewal (CCCR) on behalf of the B.C.-Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance For further information, contact the BC-Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance, PO Box 1161, Port Alberni, B.C. V9Y 7M1, (tel) 250-723-2296 Website: www.socialeconomy-bcalberta.ca e-mail: [email protected] Author Information Lena K. Soots is a doctoral candidate in the Faculty of Education at Simon Fraser University. Lena is also an Instructor/Researcher with the Centre for Sustainable Community Development at Simon Fraser University. She has worked with BALTA as a student researcher on various research projects since 2006. Dr. Michael Gismondi is Professor of Sociology at Athabasca University. and Director of AU’s Master of Arts in Integrated Studies program until 2010. Mike is an Adjunct Professor of Sociology at the University of Alberta and a Research Fellow with the Centre for Research in Latin American and Caribbean Studies at York University. This paper has been produced as part of the research program of the BC- Alberta Social Economy Research Alliance (BALTA). Financial support from the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC) is gratefully acknowledged.
    [Show full text]
  • Transforming Capitalism Through Real Utopias
    ASRXXX10.1177/000312241246 4688828882American Sociological ReviewWright 2012 2012 Presidential Address American Sociological Review 78(1) 1 –25 Transforming Capitalism © American Sociological Association 2012 DOI: 10.1177/0003122412468882 through Real Utopias http://asr.sagepub.com Erik Olin Wrighta Abstract This address explores a broad framework for thinking sociologically about emancipatory alter- natives to dominant institutions and social structures, especially capitalism. The framework is grounded in two foundational propositions: (1) Many forms of human suffering and many defi- cits in human flourishing are the result of existing institutions and social structures. (2) Trans- forming existing institutions and social structures in the right way has the potential to substan- tially reduce human suffering and expand the possibilities for human flourishing. An emancipa- tory social science responding to these propositions faces four broad tasks: specifying the moral principles for judging social institutions; using these moral principles as the standards for diagnosis and critique of existing institutions; developing an account of viable alternatives in response to the critique; and proposing a theory of transformation for realizing those alterna- tives. The idea of “real utopias” is one way of thinking about alternatives and transformation. “There is no alternative” – Margaret and social structures. My focus is mainly on Thatcher, early 1980s the problem of alternatives to capitalism, but “Another world is possible” – motto of the aUniversity of Wisconsin-Madison World Social Forum, 2000s Corresponding Author: Erik Olin Wright, Department of Sociology, In this address I explore a broad frame- University of Wisconsin-Madison, 1180 work for thinking sociologically about eman- Observatory Drive, Madison, WI 53706 cipatory alternatives to dominant institutions E-mail: [email protected] 2 American Sociological Review 78(1) much of what I have to say would apply to ways that deepen and broaden the possibility other dominant institutions as well.
    [Show full text]
  • Social Solidarity Economy & Economy
    SocialEconomy & Solidarity Economy Transformative concepts for unprecedented times? By Mike Lewis & Dan Swinney “Community economic development,” “economic Exploring the Conceptual Terrain democracy,” “worker ownership,” “co-operative economy,” “fair trade,” “sustainable community The social economy can be understood to lie within what John development,” “social economy” – a range of move- Pearce calls the“third system” of the economy, as opposed to the “first” (private/profit-oriented) and“second” systems (public ments currently challenges the way North America service/planned provision). This third system also includes the lives and works. voluntary sector, a range of associations, and the family economy. In addition to a tremendous body of talent and They share an orientation to self-help, to reciprocity, and to practice, they share a range of concepts, accumulated realizing social purpose through various types of organization experience and, to a lesser extent, related research. and association. (See Diagram 1,“Three Systems.”)1 All seek to reinsert social goals into the heart of our economic life, an agenda contrary to the economic Diagram 1: Three Systems of the Economy model of the last four decades. Many have roots in the 19th century struggles of people relegated to the Market-driven Planned Economy margins by the industrial revolution. Others have Trading Non-trading grown out of the modern“margins,” where the BlackBl Economy First System GLOBAL Second System Private PublicService ack Economy failures of “free market” orthodoxy have created ProfitOriented Planned Provision enclaves in which people have few options other NATIO NAL / than to invent economic alternatives. REG ION AL “Social economy” and“solidarity economy” are two frame- works for understanding the economic alternatives springing up DIST RICT / L OC around the globe.
    [Show full text]
  • Markets Not Capitalism Explores the Gap Between Radically Freed Markets and the Capitalist-Controlled Markets That Prevail Today
    individualist anarchism against bosses, inequality, corporate power, and structural poverty Edited by Gary Chartier & Charles W. Johnson Individualist anarchists believe in mutual exchange, not economic privilege. They believe in freed markets, not capitalism. They defend a distinctive response to the challenges of ending global capitalism and achieving social justice: eliminate the political privileges that prop up capitalists. Massive concentrations of wealth, rigid economic hierarchies, and unsustainable modes of production are not the results of the market form, but of markets deformed and rigged by a network of state-secured controls and privileges to the business class. Markets Not Capitalism explores the gap between radically freed markets and the capitalist-controlled markets that prevail today. It explains how liberating market exchange from state capitalist privilege can abolish structural poverty, help working people take control over the conditions of their labor, and redistribute wealth and social power. Featuring discussions of socialism, capitalism, markets, ownership, labor struggle, grassroots privatization, intellectual property, health care, racism, sexism, and environmental issues, this unique collection brings together classic essays by Cleyre, and such contemporary innovators as Kevin Carson and Roderick Long. It introduces an eye-opening approach to radical social thought, rooted equally in libertarian socialism and market anarchism. “We on the left need a good shake to get us thinking, and these arguments for market anarchism do the job in lively and thoughtful fashion.” – Alexander Cockburn, editor and publisher, Counterpunch “Anarchy is not chaos; nor is it violence. This rich and provocative gathering of essays by anarchists past and present imagines society unburdened by state, markets un-warped by capitalism.
    [Show full text]
  • Social Economy” in the Time of Crisis
    The “Social Economy” in the time of crisis Katerina Vlasaki Dr. of Political Science and Public Administration-National & Kapodistrian University of Athens Sociologist, MSc in Public Policy Abstract During the crisis (2008 - ) a “new Social Economy” seems to be emerging in the European Union. It supports “solidarity economy” by promoting enterprises mainly cooperatives into the “active welfare state”. The new forms of “Social Economy” were introduced in the Greek public policy through the European Strategy 2020 ("Europe 2020"), recorded by the Law 4019/2011 and reflected in the national and regional strategic development frameworks for 2014-2020 through the adoption of specific objectives mainly related to the Social Cooperative Enterprises (Koin.S.Ep). The “new Social Economy” seeks to potentially be established as a core value of social policy in Greece in order to be the main element of the overall policy making that will potentially lead the Greek public administration to limit the consequences of the economic recession such as: unemployment, poverty and social exclusion. As part of the efforts made by the Greek public administration to the direction of combating poverty and social exclusion, the interest is focusing on the interpretation of the “Social Economy” in public policy and its specific institutional environment in Communication Address: 4 Stamatiou Sarma Str. 71601, Heraklion, Crete, Greece Tel.: +30 6979774364, e-mail: [email protected] Greece. Given the fact that the “new Social Economy” is still at a very early stage of implementation the interest is enhanced by the ability to provide timely responses to policy making through the comprehension of the Greek social policy and administration.
    [Show full text]
  • UQFL87 Colin Clark Papers
    FRYER LIBRARY Manuscript Finding Aid UQFL87 Colin Clark Papers Size 36 boxes Contents Correspondence; own publications and writings; book reviews; newspaper cuttings; slides; index cards. Collection reflects interests and involvement in politics, agriculture, economics, economic policy, demography, public finance, international data, religion and ancient history. Correspondence includes letters to and from John Maynard Keynes and B.A. Santamaria. Collection also includes photocopies of papers in Colin Clark Collection, Brasenose College, Oxford. Date range 1907 to 1986 (bulk of collection 1931 to 1986) Biography Colin Clark was born on 2 November 1905 in London. He was educated at Winchester College and Oxford and Cambridge Universities. He graduated first in chemistry and then in economics. He described himself as ‘an academic economist with a considerable international reputation.’ He was a prodigious author of economic texts, articles and papers. He was an economic adviser to various governments in the United Kingdom, India and Australia. From 1938 to 1953 he advised the Treasury Department of the Queensland Government. In 1978, he joined the Economics Department of the University of Queensland as a research consultant, where he remained for eleven years. His memory has been perpetuated in the annual Colin Clark Memorial Lecture at the University of Queensland. Notes Unrestricted access Index to collection See also Box 22B Code Description Box no. PO Politics Australia 1A Wentworth Politics: Wentworth RE Incomes 1B S [Service Industries] 1B James Clark letterbook 1907 to 1909 2A R Religion 2B PU Public Finance 2B ______________________________________________________________________________________________ Last updated: 23/03/2021 © University of Queensland 1 FRYER LIBRARY Manuscript Finding Aid Code Description Box no.
    [Show full text]
  • Social Economy As Social Science and Practice
    CAHIERde RECHERCHE 2004 # 6 Efficience et Mutations des Organisations Industrielles Social Economy as Social Science and Practice : Historical Perspectives on France 1 Danièle DEMOUSTIER Damien ROUSSELIERE Octobre 2004 Laboratoire d’Economie de la Production et de l’Intégration Internationale – FRE2664 UPMF-BP47 -38040 GRENOBLE Cedex 9 [email protected] Tél. : 04 76 82 56 92 http://www.upmf-grenoble.fr/lepii 1 Social Economy as Social Science and Practice: 1 Historical Perspectives on France Danièle DEMOUSTIER ESEAC, Equipe de Socio-Economie Associative et Coopérative Institut d’Etudes Politiques de Grenoble [email protected] Damien ROUSSELIÈRE LEPII, Laboratoire d’Economie de la Production et de l’Intégration Internationale CNRS-Grenoble II [email protected] Forthcoming in CLARY J., DOLFSMA W., FIGART D. (eds) Ethics and the Market: Insights from Social Economics, London & New York, Routledge, Advances in Social Economics, 2005. 2 Introduction Nowadays social, economic, political and cultural changes have exercised wide influence transforming the surrounding context, affecting organizations that recognize themselves in “social economy” due to their status (cooperative, mutualist and associative). They seem to live off the very contradictions that distance some among them from the solidarity built up, which leads others, in turn, to redefine their projects (Vienney 1994). On the other hand, they provoke the emergence of new organizations that identify themselves as belonging to the sphere of “civil and solidarity-based economy” [économie solidaire]. Thus the actors themselves, the authorities and public opinion on the whole, demand more legibility, in order to recognize the particularity of forms of economic production that assert themselves increasingly in a service economy (Gadrey 2000).
    [Show full text]
  • What We Need to Know About the Social Economy a Guide for Policy Research
    Policy Research Projet de recherche Initiative sur les politiques What We Need to Know About the Social Economy A Guide for Policy Research July 2005 PRI Project New Approaches for Addressing Poverty and Exclusion What We Need to Know About the Social Economy A Guide for Policy Research July 2005 PRI Project New Approaches for Addressing Poverty and Exclusion ACKNOWLEDGMENTS The idea for a policy research guide on the social The guide benefited from extensive written com- economy was suggested by Jean-Pierre Voyer ments provided on a near-final draft by Marguerite following a joint PRI-SSHRC roundtable held in Mendell from Concordia University and Derek Hum September 2004. The guide is based on background from the University of Manitoba. Professor Hum also documents distributed before the roundtable, the prepared briefings for PRI that informed the identifi- presentations and discussions of the day, and subse- cation of observations concerning the role of govern- quent research carried out by Alan Painter, who also ment, as acknowledged in section 3. led the preparation of the guide. Management support and helpful comments were provided by Jeff Frank, Jean Kunz and Jean-Pierre Voyer throughout the drafting process. PH4-23/2005E-PDF ISBN 0-662-40886-1 Genomics, Health and Society Emerging Issues for Public Policy TABLE OF CONTENTS Preface . .I Highlights . .II 1. Introduction . .1 2. The Scope of the Social Economy . .2 3. The Role of Government in the Social Economy . .6 4. Recent Social Economy Initiatives by Governments and International Organizations . .10 5. Policy Research Needs and Resources . .13 6.
    [Show full text]
  • Travel Guide Puebla
    How to use this brochure Tap any button in the contents to go to the Tap the button to get back to the con¬tents selected page. page or to the selected map. Contents Map Tap the logo or the image to go to the Tap the button to book your hotel or tour. webpage. Book Here Tap the logos to access the weather forecast, take a virtual tour of archaeological sites via Street View, enjoy videos and photos of Puebla. Follow us in social media and keep up to date with our latest news, promotions and information about the tourist destinations in Mexico. 25. Magic Route of Gastronomy. Contents Magic Route of Nature. 26. Villages of the Sierra Magica. 27. Villages of the Sierra Magica. 28. Sierra Nororiental. Map. 29. Sierra Nororiental. Villages. 30. Serdan Valley. Map of Villages. 31. Serdan Valley. Villages. 32. Valle de Atlixco y Matamoros. Map. 33. Valle de Atlixco y Matamoros. Villages. Centro Vacacional Atlixco-Metepec. 1. Puebla. 34. Mixteca Route. Map of Villages. 2. 10 Things to do in Puebla. 35. Mixteca Route. Villages. 3. 10 Things to do in Puebla. 36. Mixteca Route. Villages. 4. 10 Things to do in Puebla. 37. Tehuacán and Sierra Negra. Map. 5. Hotel Misión Puebla. 38. Tehuacán and Sierra Negra. Tehuacán. 6. City of Puebla. Hotel & Spa Aldea del Bazar. 7. Colonial Buildings in Puebla. 39. Tehuacán and Sierra Negra. Villages. 8. Colonial Buildings in Puebla. 40. Awe-inspiring natural wonders in Puebla. 9. Puebla and its Museums. 41. Awe-inspiring natural wonders in Puebla. 10.
    [Show full text]
  • Economic Analysis and the Third Sector Overview of Economic Analysis in Relation to the Third Sector
    Third Sector Research Centre Working Paper 14 Economic analysis and the third sector Overview of economic analysis in relation to the third sector Andrea Westall September 2009 Working Paper Working 14 Septe mber 2009 mber Contents Economic analysis and the third sector ............................................................................................. 1 Overview of economic analysis in relation to the third sector ......................................................... 1 Introduction and overview .................................................................................................................... 2 What is economic analysis?................................................................................................................. 4 Third sector statistical economic data ................................................................................................ 4 Government views of economic analysis relevant to the third sector ............................................ 6 Business or economic consultancy view of economic analysis ..................................................... 9 Academic views of economic analysis ............................................................................................. 10 Mainstream economics used in third sector research .................................................................... 10 Challenges to mainstream economics .............................................................................................. 13 Wider economic analysis and
    [Show full text]
  • Mexico's Gulf Coast
    dventure Guide Mexico’s Gulf Coast Joanie Sánchez HUNTER HUNTER PUBLISHING, INC, 130 Campus Drive, Edison, NJ 08818 % 732-225-1900; 800-255-0343; fax 732-417-1744 www.hunterpublishing.com Ulysses Travel Publications 4176 Saint-Denis, Montréal, Québec Canada H2W 2M5 % 514-843-9882, ext. 2232; fax 514-843-9448 Windsor Books The Boundary, Wheatley Road, Garsington Oxford, OX44 9EJ England % 01865-361122; fax 01865-361133 ISBN 1-58843-394-3 © 2004 Hunter Publishing, Inc. This and other Hunter travel guides are also available as e-books through Amazon.com, NetLibrary.com, EBSCO and other digital part- ners. For more information, e-mail us at com- [email protected]. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form, or by any means, elec- tronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, without the written permission of the publisher. This guide focuses on recreational activities. As all such activities con- tain elements of risk, the publisher, author, affiliated individuals and companies disclaim responsibility for any injury, harm, or illness that may occur to anyone through, or by use of, the information in this book. Every effort was made to insure the accuracy of information in this book, but the publisher and author do not assume, and hereby disclaim, liabil- ity for any loss or damage caused by errors, omissions, misleading infor- mation or potential travel problems caused by this guide, even if such errors or omissions result from negligence, accident or any other cause. Cover photo: Juvenile scarlet macaw (© Frans Lanting/Minden Pictures) Back cover: Pyramid at Palenque, Chiapas (Mexico Tourism Board) All other photos courtesy of Mexico Tourism Board, unless otherwise indicated.
    [Show full text]
  • The Social Economy: a Niche Capitalism Or a Pathway Beyond?
    THE SOCIAL ECONOMY -- A NICHE IN CAPITALISM OR A PATHWAY BEYOND? Preliminary notes towards an analysis Erik Olin Wright University of Wisconsin – Madison May, 2010 Paper prepared for the meeting of the Analytical Marxism Group, Oxford, June, 2010 Preface: the context of these notes This paper (at least part II and part III) should be read as a set of extended comments on various issues connected to the “social economy” rather than a fully worked-out paper. It is being written with two primary concerns in mind: First, I am in the early stages of an empirical project on the social economy and various forms of worker cooperatives. The research is focusing especially on the social economy coordinating institutions in Quebec, but I will also examine a number of other comparative cases. In recent years, both in academic circles and in the popular media, there has been growing interest in non-government economic activities which, in one way or another, embody some kind of “social mission”. These economic initiatives fall on a spectrum from organizations that look very much like ordinary capitalist firms but publicly announce some kind of social concern to organizations that are clearly noncapitalist in character both in terms of their internal structure and their objectives. Many different terms have been deployed to tap different parts of this spectrum: social enterprises, socially responsible investment, social economy, solidarity economy, the community economy, the nonprofit sector, the third sector, the citizen’s economy. Some of these have quite clear meanings; others are umbrella terms covering a quite heterogeneous collection of activities.
    [Show full text]