ILPC 2026

Abstract

In this paper we examine the bases for the emergence and growth of solidarity in the economy. The economy is considered to be the realm of instrumental rationality par excellence. Yet, there are many economic activities—such as cooperatives of all kinds, mutual aid organizations, or associations of producers or consumers—that operate on a logic of solidarity. Our goal is to investigate the social and institutional bases that can support the development of solidarity in the economic realm. We do so by analyzing three very different experiences of solidarity economic organization—the Argentine recuperated enterprises by their workers, the Mondragon cooperatives, and the experience of self-management in the former Yugoslavia—and extrapolating from them what forms of embeddedness and what kind of institutions can sustain solidarity. We identify three elements that can contribute to the emergence and expansion of the solidarity economy. First, institutions that generate interests in cooperation. Second, a collaborative relation with the state that can help the solidarity economy growth while allowing for its autonomy. Third, the presence of social movements that make their goal to build and expand the solidarity economy.