Scaling Up
The Convergence of the Social Economy and Sustainability
Herausgeber: Gismondi, Mike
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When citizens take collaborative action to meet the needs of theircommunity, they are participating in the social economy. Co-operatives,community-based social services, local non-profit organizations, andcharitable foundations are all examples of social economies thatemphasize mutual benefit rather than the accumulation of profit. Whilesuch groups often participate in market-based activities to achievetheir goals, they also pose an alternative to the capitalist marketeconomy. Contributors to Scaling Up investigated innovativesocial economies in British Columbia and Alberta and discovered tha...
When citizens take collaborative action to meet the needs of theircommunity, they are participating in the social economy. Co-operatives,community-based social services, local non-profit organizations, andcharitable foundations are all examples of social economies thatemphasize mutual benefit rather than the accumulation of profit. Whilesuch groups often participate in market-based activities to achievetheir goals, they also pose an alternative to the capitalist marketeconomy. Contributors to Scaling Up investigated innovativesocial economies in British Columbia and Alberta and discovered thatachieving a social good through collective, grassroots enterpriseresulted in a sustainable way of satisfying human needs that was also,by extension, environmentally responsible. As these case studiesillustrate, organizations that are capable of harnessing the power of asocial economy generally demonstrate a commitment to three outcomes:greater social justice, financial self-sufficiency, and environmentalsustainability. Within the matrix of these three allied principles lienew strategic directions for the politics of sustainability.