The social and solidarity economy

This chapter will explore the scope, structure and potential of the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) in the future of urban regions. The SSE is, like the private economy, an assemblage of firms, entrepreneurs, intermediaries, and bespoke forms of finance that trade in goods and services for profit. What makes it different is that: surpluses are used for redistributive social purposes rather than personal gain; ownership is in the hands of stakeholders (such as communities) rather than individual shareholders; and economic activities (providing goods and services) reflect the needs of people rather than profit maximization. The exploitation of resources, capital accumulation, unsustainable forms of financialization and reductive labor have characterized market, and increasingly neoliberal forms of growth. Drawing on advanced social economies (such as the Basque Country), progressive financial environments (Québec in Canada) and networked cooperative economies (Emelia Romagna, Italy), the chapter evaluates the potential of the SSE as a site of political struggle as well as a practical agenda for the urban region. Arguing that a more sustainable planetary future is unlikely to be achieved without a different form of economics, it concludes by outlining the priorities for embedding, replicating and scaling the SSE as a long-term development goal.