The Concept of Solidarity Economy Venture: Towards a Gradualist Approach

ABSTRACT

The following article begins by demonstrating how a convergence between various social actors in 1990s Brazil led to a political consensus on the concept of an empreendimento econômico solidário [solidarity economy venture]. It then discusses the advantages and disadvantages of what is essentially a normative focus, for academic purposes, leading us to identify the structural elements of such organizations and to formulate qualification and differentiation criteria in this field of practice. It thus proposes a Weberian ideal-type model for the concept, appropriated for empirical analyses from a pre-determined theoretical prism. Backed by several of the authors’ previous studies, an examination of the degree of correspondence between the specific economic organizations and the criteria prescribed by the model allows us to qualify and relate them to peer organizations and to compare the solidarity economy with similar fields of practice, such as the third sector, examining particular features in the final section of the article.

ideal-type concept; charity economy; social economy; cooperativism; third sector