Incubation of popular cooperatives: social representations and tensions between rationalities

Abstract

This theoretical and empirical article addresses an organizational process that has singular characteristics: the incubation process of popular cooperatives, initiated and managed by an technological incubator of popular cooperatives (ITCP), located at the University of São Paulo (USP). This paper, derived from a master's dissertation in Administration, had as its core objective interpreting the constructions of social representations on the incubation process, considering the tension between instrumental and substantive rationalities. The theme of popular cooperatives is within the field of studies on social and solidarity economy, which has steadily grown in Brazil and worldwide. As the main theoretical contributions we point out Guerreiro Ramos' approach on the tension between rationalities and the theory of social representations started by Serge Moscovici. A qualitative methodology was used, interconnecting bibliographic and documentary search and open-ended interviews at the workplace and the study of actors, highlighting excerpts from their speeches. We found a mutual reinforcement and complementarity between the theoretical approaches chosen in the interpretation of tensions between the rationalities involved in social representations, which emerge in the incubation process under hybrid, fluid, and complex forms (product-process).

Keywords:
Incubation of popular cooperatives; Solidarity economy; Rationality; Social representations.