Real development does not constitute profit maximisation and infinite growth. It is about building better lives and resilient communities in a sustainable manner against the risks inherent in the system of capitalist growth. A post-capitalistic approach where the concept of success is redefined can be the only way forward. The harmony of living with nature and valuing experiences needs to be instilled in people's psyche over the dream of material success and hoarding wealth. This is where a solidarity economy that is solely based on regeneration as opposed to extraction comes as a glimmer of hope.
The history of the solidarity economy dates way back to 1937. During the Spanish Civil war, Felipe Alaiz used it as an economic concept and advocated for the construction of an “economía solidaria” between worker collectives in urban and rural areas. This social movement which ran on the principle of economic activism, however, gained momentum only in the mid-1990s throughout Latin America, Europe and Canada. This concept further snowballed globally as a shared research agenda and a powerful network of economic activity and emerged as an economy that is for people and the planet contrary to the ideology of capitalism.
Read the rest at Citizen Consumer and Civic Action Group
Add new comment