Between faith, family and politics: The Solidarity Economy in Dourados – MS

Abstract

In Brazil the participation in the Solidarity Economy has grown both in terms of the number of economic enterprises and initiatives of the State as well as academic studies. In this context, the aim of this article is to discuss the meanings of this social phenomenon in its specific organization in the city of Dourados – MS. Its starting point are the narratives of the subjects that both construct this phenomenon and participate in it. This is an anthropological reflection about the meanings interwoven in the daily relations of people that form the solidarity economy network in the city, taking ethnography and records of memories and life stories as its research method. The results indicate that the Solidarity Economy in Dourados appears to be mainly an act of faith that propels people in the direction of a search for a dreamt of Christian liberation. This is a project and at the same time a horizon, both articulated, defining symbols, actions, identities, commitments, feelings as well as public policies. Therefore it is a mission not only of a universal character as a life devoted to a certain planetary communion, but also of local action as a reshaping of relationships in the family itself.

Keywords: Solidarity Economy, memory, community, Christian cosmology.