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Abstract
After the 2008 Global Financial Crisis (G.F.C.), the conditions that are tearing the European Union (E.U.)’s amalgamating mission apart resurface. The focus of this paper is one E.U. member, Portugal, a country that experiences a sovereign debt crisis in 2009. To confront a plethora of issues, Portugal’s marginalized sectors develop initiatives that revolve around the Social and Solidarity Economy (S.S.E.). The Portuguese S.S.E. represents an ideological manifestation and a pragmatic initiative to re-contextualize the E.U.’s economy that ameliorates inequality and democratizes the economy, igniting participatory democracy. On the one hand, the Social Economy promotes initiatives based on a value system that prioritizes people over profits. On the other, the Solidarity Economy incorporates a non-market vision to production, consumption, and distribution. Portugal is contributing to S.S.E.’s robust existence in the E.U. It constitutes a sector that enhances reciprocity, participatory democracy, and associationism at the community level.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
The first version of this paper was presented at “Competing Visions: European Integration Beyond the EC/EU” organized by the University of Helsinki—Department of International Relations, October 5-6, 2017. The present ideas were enriched by the program of the 2017 First European Summer School on Solidarity Economy, “Is it Possible to Foster a Common Agenda for Solidarity Economy in Europe?” organized by the Center for Social Studies—University of Coimbra. The author is thankful for insightful comments to Oscar Segura Castro, Executive on Training and Innovation at the National Institute for Fostering Cooperativism (INFOCOOP) in San Jose, Costa Rica.