International recognition for the social and solidarity economy

Encyclopedia SSE

Community Economies Research Network (CERN) members are among the contributors to a new encyclopedia on the social and solidarity economy, with Caroline Shenaz Hossein part of the editorial team.

Hossein says “I was one of the many editors, with Dr Ilcheong Yi and his awesome team, and I am so proud that so many feminists, Global South and Black scholars are cited here in a book on the social and solidarity economy.”

“This encyclopedia reflects how the social and solidarity economy has gained currency across the world, over the past two decades, as a crucial approach to promoting human well-being, social justice and economic and sustainable development.”

Encyclopedia of the Social and Solidarity Economy is published by Edward Elgar in partnership with United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy (with funding from the Government of the Grand Duchy of Luxembourg). The encyclopedia is available online (free of charge).

The encyclopedia is based around the definition of the social and solidarity economy used by the United Nations Inter-Agency Task Force on Social and Solidarity Economy, “economic activities and market relations prioritising social (and often environmental) objectives over profit motives and which are guided by principles and practices of cooperation, solidarity and democratic self-control.”*

The encyclopedia has four parts: Part I. Histories, Concepts and Theories; Part II. Actors and Organizations; Part III. Linkages to Development; Part IV: Enabling Environment and Governance.

Part I provides an overview of the social and solidarity economy and includes chapters by CERN members Suzanne Bergeron (on Feminist Economics and the Social and Solidarity Economy), and Stephen Healy, Ana Inés Heras and Peter North (on Community Economics and the Social and Solidarity Economy).

This part also includes entries on the postcolonial theory, Indigenous economies, the black social economy and the commons.

Part II focuses on actors in the social and solidarity economy, such LGBTQ+ actors, and migrants and refugees, and organizations in the social and solidarity economy, such as community-based organizations, and NGOs.

This part includes entries by Chiyoge B. Sifa and Caroline Shenaz Hossein (on Cooperatives and Mutuals), Christabell P. J. (on Women’s Self-Help Groups), and Jessica Gordon-Nembhard and Ajowa Nzinga Ifateyo (on African American Social and Solidarity Economy and Distributive Justice).

Part III on linkages to development covers topics that include the Sustainable Development Goals, peace and non-violence, hunger and poverty, gender and empowerment, housing, ICT, education, and energy, water and waste management.

Part IV focuses on the enabling environment and governance, and includes entries on the institutional ecosystem, public policy, social policy, legal frameworks, financing and participation.

The encyclopedia is one of the research outputs of the SSE Knowledge Platform which was established by the United Nations Inter-Agency on Social and Solidarity Economy (UNTFSSE), which itself was established to promote awareness of the social and solidarity economy as a means for more just and sustainable development.

 

* As outlined in the Foreword by Vic Van Vuuren, Chair of the UNTFSSE and Director, ILO Enterprise Department and Paul Ladd, Director, United Nations Research Institute of Social Development (UNRISD), the Implementing Agency of the UNTFSSE Knowledge Hub). See also the definition here.

 

Jenny Cameron