Social economy and economy to the commons

Abstract

This paper proposes a broader approach to the analysis of social economy practices, in order to link them to the economies for the commons’ approach. These practices are defined by the innovation in their approach to work (beyond income and employment), democratization (inwards and outwards) and sustainability (social and environmental dimensions). Commons are described as a broader notion from the Ostrom’s classic definition. In this regard we refer to environmental goods and social goods for cooperation, as an emergent working line for many economic practices. These practices have explicitly or implicitly understood that capitalism, patriarchy and developmentalism are forcing new enclosures, limiting who and how can access to natural resources, social technologies or social knowledge (re)production. The economies for the common’approach includes, consequently, initiatives and topics from social economy, to digital goods production (technologies, internet access...), covering also sustainability processes (agroecology, food sovereignty). This paper proposes a practical approach to these initiatives through 25 questions, which arise from the analysis of the practices and the social economy theory. To conclude, a discussion is proposed about the potentialities and constraints of the commons approach in a context in which community, resources and rules are expanded and closely intertwined and can be hardly defi ned by strict boundaries.

Keywords: social economy, commons, sustainability.