The Solidarity Economy Alternative

Our contemporary world is plagued by a deep crisis that threatens the survival of our species and the planet. In the midst of this dire situation, we are being misled to believe by transnational corporations, governments, mainstream media networks and spin doctors that neoliberal capitalism has all the answers and can overcome any crisis. But can more of the same and a blind faith in capitalism save our world? Many are not convinced and there is a crucial awakening taking place. The rise of transnational activism, the World Social Forum, the Arab Spring, Occupy, the Climate Justice Movement and a post-neoliberal left affirm the need for alternatives to global neoliberal capitalism. A crucial idea and practice emerging from this ferment is the solidarity economy alternative. This book brings together contributions from leading thinkers and practitioners supporting the solidarity economy alternative in South Africa, Brazil, the United Kingdom, Italy and the United States. For the first time there is an attempt to clarify, rather than codify, meanings of the solidarity economy, emphasise crucial theoretical concepts at work in the emergent solidarity economy, and highlight situated movement-building experiences and ways in which the anti-capitalist logic of the solidarity economy can be constituted from below. This book is for anyone concerned about democracy, transformative politics and emancipatory utopian alternatives. 'The Solidarity Economy Alternative propagates the radical impulse of democracy from below while affirming ethical values and principles like social justice. This book is an excellent guide to this powerful idea and an invaluable resource for activists in South Africa and beyond.' Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, patron of the Democracy from Below Campaign, South Africa, and former deputy Minister of Defence and Minister of Health 'A brilliant, contemporary effort to reconstruct, on a new basis, the transformative anti-capitalist vision. It is an immensely valuable, empirically grounded contribution to a fundamentally important debate.' Peter Evans, Professor Emeritus of Sociology, University of California, Berkeley, author of Embedded Autonomy: States and Industrial Transformation Vishwas Satgar is a senior lecturer in international relations at the University of the Witwatersrand. He is a political activist and chairs the board of the Cooperative and Policy Alternative Centre.