The solidarity economy is a worldwide movement to build a just and sustainable economy. It is an ecosystem made up of existing practices – some existing, new and emerging – that are in line with the values of the solidarity economy.
Economics is a social construction, not a natural phenomenon, and is shaped by a process of interplay with various dynamics in culture, politics, history, ecosystems and technology.
Solidarity economy requires a shift in our economic paradigm from one that prioritizes profit and growth to one that prioritizes living in harmony with fellow human beings and with nature.
Principles
- Solidarity, cooperation, mutuality
- Equality in all dimensions (race, ethnicity, nation, class, gender, etc.)
- Participatory democracy
- Continuity
- Pluralism
Solidarity economy as a movement serves to help imaginary cells to be able to recognize each other as part of a common agenda to carry out economic metamorphosis.
These cells then come together to create an economic system that has its own coherence, including the set of organs needed to survive in terms of finance, production, distribution, investment, consumption and the state.
Growth Space for Solidarity Economy
The space for the growth of the solidarity economy can be described in five elements that interact with each other by applying the principles of the solidarity economy. The five elements include production/reproduction, consumption/users, finance/authorized capital, distribution/exchange, and governance/systems. Each element consists of many entities (cells) that have a common consciousness to develop a solidarity economy. The visuals are depicted on the SE w movements by Emily Kawano website (prezi.com) below.
Activities
- Developing pilots with Circa Handmade and a network of business actors in Bandung
- Pioneering the development of solidarity economy with herbal medicine mothers in Sragen
- Solidarity economy discussion
- Mapping of solidarity economic actors
- Development of a connectedness model of solidarity economy for CSO sustainability