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From the Cooperative Movement to Solidarity Economy (Re)Producción Social De Utopías: Desde El Movimiento Cooperativo Hasta La Economía Solidaria

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From the Cooperative Movement to Solidarity Economy (Re)Producción Social De Utopías: Desde El Movimiento Cooperativo Hasta La Economía Solidaria 17 Social (Re)production of Utopias: From the Cooperative Movement to Solidarity Economy (Re)producción social de utopías: desde el movimiento cooperativo hasta la economía solidaria Manuela Salau Brasil Abstract The aim of the present chapter is to establish a link between solidarity economy and utopia – more precisely, to argue in favor of solidarity economy as an instance of a contemporary utopian project. To that end, we will advocate a perspective of utopia that removes it from the usual derogatory concept of an unfeasible project, and rely on Ernst Bloch’s theoretical framework as a foundation to associate utopia with the idea of possibility as summed up in his concrete utopia category. We will also discuss solidarity economy as a project rooted in the past (the co-operative movement) that is rekindled in times of crises, with an emphasis on the Brazilian case. We will posit that adhesion to solidarity economy may be identified, initially and in certain cases, with the search for the resolution of survivorship issues, but is further sustained by a longing for more radical societal changes. Driven by the hope of seeding a better future, solidarity economy par- ticipants reproduce –not always consciously– a social utopia that mobilizes hopes and actions in the manner of concrete utopias. Keywords: concrete utopia, co-operative movement, Ernst Bloch, solidarity economy. Resumen El interés de este capítulo es establecer un vínculo entre economía solidaria y utopía, más pre- cisamente, argumentar a favor de la economía solidaria como un ejemplo de proyecto utópico contemporáneo. Para esto, propondremos una perspectiva de utopía que la sustrae del concepto derogatorio usual de un proyecto inviable; y nos basaremos en el marco teórico de Ernst Bloch como fundamento para asociar utopía con la idea de posibilidad, como se resume en su categoría de utopía concreta. También discutiremos la economía solidaria como un proyecto arraigado en el pasado (el movimiento cooperativo), el cual es reavivado en tiempos de crisis, con énfasis en el caso brasilero. Supondremos que la adhesión a la economía solidaria puede ser identificada, inicialmente y en ciertos casos, con la búsqueda de una solución a problemas de supervivencia, pero que se sustenta además en un anhelo por cambios sociales más radicales. Impulsados por la esperanza de sembrar un futuro mejor, los participantes de la economía solidaria reproducen –no siempre de manera consciente– una utopía social que moviliza los deseos y las acciones en la forma de utopías concretas. Palabras clave: utopía concreta, movimiento cooperativo, Ernst Bloch, economía solidaria. BY NC ND Utopía: 500 años Perfil del autor / Authors’ profile Manuela Salau Brasil Incubator of Solidary Enterprises at the Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa (IESoL/UEPG), Brasil. Economist, M.Sc. in Applied Social 414 Sciences by the Universidade Estadual de Ponta Grossa, Brasil. Ph.D. in Sociology by the Universidade Federal do Paraná, Brasil. E-mail: [email protected] ¿Cómo citar este capítulo? / How to cite this chapter? APA Salau Brasil, M. (2016). Social (Re)production of Utopias: From the Cooperative Movement to Solidarity Economy. En P. Guerra (Ed.), Uto- pía: 500 años (pp. 413-442). Bogotá: Ediciones Universidad Coope- rativa de Colombia. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.16925/9789587600544 Chicago Salau Brasil, Manuela. “Social (Re)production of Utopias: From the Cooperative Movement to Solidarity Economy”. En Utopía: 500 años, Ed. Pablo Guerra. Bogotá: Ediciones Universidad Cooperativa de Colombia, 2016. doi: http://dx.doi.org/10.16925/9789587600544 MLA Salau Brasil, Manuela. “Social (Re)production of Utopias: From the Cooperative Movement to Solidarity Economy”. Utopía: 500 años. Guerra, Pablo (Ed.). Bogotá: Ediciones Universidad Coo- perativa de Colombia, 2016, pp. 413-442. doi: http://dx.doi. org/10.16925/9789587600544 Social (Re)production of Utopias: From the Cooperative Movement to Solidarity Economy Introduction1 Solidarity economy is the offspring of crises. Its roots date back to the experiences of the nineteenth-century cooperative movement led by utopian socialists that 415 emerged as a response to the crisis begotten by the Industrial Revolution. On their revival, in the closing decades of the twentieth century, those experiences were renewed as a way of coping with the new context of a crisis of the capital, this time in a neoliberal version. Both at its inception in the nineteenth century and re-emergence in the twentieth century, solidarity economy has stood out as a project transcending the need for job and income generation. Despite being boosted by crises, solidarity economy is more than merely a mitigating alternative. In fact, solidarity economy is not concerned with minimizing the effects of a crisis, particularly an economic crisis, but rather with constructing new civilizing alternatives. Thus, although solidarity economy is a fruit of crises, it is not content to adopt palliative measures, nor does it stop at denouncing and critically diagnosing reality. Here lies its strength, its potential for change, its utopian vein: solidarity economy is at once resistance and proposition, denouncement of the present and anticipation of the future. Such a dual dimension implies recognizing solidarity economy as both practice and project; this recognition reveals the complexity underlying this realm made of concrete experiences (practice) and visions of the future (project). The key argument of this text is that the utopian dimension of solidarity economy is a central aspect of those experiences, albeit very often neglected or rebutted. We aim to examine utopia not only with the intent of valuing it as a theoretical category, but also to determine how and to what extent it is associated with solidarity economy. Clearly, the concept of utopia adopted herein is not consistent with the usual meaning of the term, which implies a delusional, impossible, naive undertaking. Nor is it connected to the concept introduced in Thomas More’s book, in which he named an idea that had no previous designation and that currently has multiple interpretations. Given the wide range of meanings for the word ‘utopia’ and the predominance of a certain interpretation of the term, it is important to define some premises 1 The original text in Portuguese was translated into English by Renato Nadal Souza. Utopía: 500 años sustaining the present paper. We argue in favor of the relationship between utopia and solidarity economy considering that utopia is indeed a controversial and poly- semic concept, but also a contemporary and scientific one, and that Ernst Bloch’s concrete utopia category is appropriate to explain the social utopias of the twenty- 416 first century. Furthermore, we contend that solidarity economy encompasses, from its inception, a utopian component that blends a dimension of critique of the present with a dimension of projection of the future. Drawing on those considerations, this paper is structured as follows: first, we will offer a number of perceptions regarding the ‘utopia’ category and discuss the origin of the term, its chief definitions and controversies, and then proceed to argue for the hypothesis of its ubiquitousness. Further on, we shall explore the theoretical framework of Ernst Bloch in order to support this investigation by taking a scientific and positive look at utopia. With his philosophy, Bloch provides us with categories rich in innovative thinking in which utopias are given a new status. He does so by reframing hope, reality, possi- bility; underscoring imagination, dreams, anticipation and the ‘not-yet’; recovering the ethical and political significance of utopia, and by redefining the concept itself. In contrast to the trivial definition that condemns utopia to impossibility –denominated abstract utopia by Bloch– concrete utopia chooses engaged action in a project for a better society. The relationship between production of utopias and times of crises will also be examined. We will then advance with the subject of solidarity economy, covering from its birth to its resurgence and up to the present time, placing particular emphasis on the Brazilian case. The main characteristics of solidarity economy and the reasons justifying its status as a utopian project will be examined. The argument for a dual nature of solidarity economy –practice and project– will also be explored, as well as aspects revealing the dimensions of critique and proposition that can give it the status of a utopian project. Finally, we acknowledge solidarity economy as a social utopia, examine the nature of this utopia relying on the teachings of Ernst Bloch, and conclude with some considerations. Utopia: controversies and interpretative keys The word utopia was coined by Thomas More in 1516, when he published Concerning the Best State of a Commonwealth, and the New Island of Utopia –a two-part Social (Re)production of Utopias: From the Cooperative Movement to Solidarity Economy book. The first part, written in that year, is a critique of the English society; the second, written one year previously, describes the island of Utopia supposedly visited by one Raphael Hythlodaeus in his travels around the New World, with detailed descriptions of the place and the routine of its inhabitants. 417 The word ‘utopia’ is usually translated as a ‘non-place’, although even that rendition has been disputed. According to Aínsa (1984), there is a suspicion that the word ‘utopos’ is the result of a translation error, the original expression being ‘eu-topos’, meaning ‘happy place’. In that regard, Baczko (1985) raises the question: What is then the matter with this key term throughout the text? Does it designate U-topia, a nowhere land, a land that does not exist anywhere, or does it designate Eu-topia, that is, the best country, superior even to the one that Plato had imagined? Or both things at once... (p. 343). Dubois (2009) supports Baczko’s thesis: In fact, we do not know whether utopia should be linked to outopia, the country of nowhere, or eutopia, the country where one lives well.
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