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Esteves, A. (2023). Solidarity Economy(es) and the reinvention of democratic participation from the margins in post-neoliberal Europe. Autonomies in Practice: Economies, Identities, Arts, Land and Territories that Heal.

A. M. Esteves,  "Solidarity Economy(es) and the reinvention of democratic participation from the margins in post-neoliberal Europe", in Autonomies in Practice: Economies, Identities, Arts, Land and Territories that Heal, San Cristobal de las Casas, 2023

@misc{esteves2023_1766326301097,
	author = "Esteves, A.",
	title = "Solidarity Economy(es) and the reinvention of democratic participation from the margins in post-neoliberal Europe",
	year = "2023",
	howpublished = "Outro",
	url = "https://cambalache.noblogs.org/post/2022/11/15/gathering-autonomies-in-practice-2023-encuentro-autonomias-en-practica-2023/"
}

TY  - CPAPER
TI  - Solidarity Economy(es) and the reinvention of democratic participation from the margins in post-neoliberal Europe
T2  - Autonomies in Practice: Economies, Identities, Arts, Land and Territories that Heal
AU  - Esteves, A.
PY  - 2023
CY  - San Cristobal de las Casas
UR  - https://cambalache.noblogs.org/post/2022/11/15/gathering-autonomies-in-practice-2023-encuentro-autonomias-en-practica-2023/
AB  - EuroREGEN (Transnational networks for regenerative development in Europe: a
comparative perspective on grassroots mobilisation and policy advocacy) is a three-year
academic research project (2021-2024) based at ISCTE - University Institute of Lisbon. It
explores how key European networks of community-led initiatives, identified with Solidarity Economy principles, engage with policy processes and political institutions at European Union, national, regional, and local levels. Its case studies are the European branches of the Global Ecovillage Network (GEN-Europe), Transition Network (TN), and Intercontinental Platform for Social Solidarity Economy (RIPESS-Europe), along with their collaboration through the ECOLISE European-level meta-network of political advocacy.

This presentation, based on fieldwork, explores how these networks are reinventing democratic participation from the bottom up. It analyses how they construct counter-hegemonic political identities and approaches to democratic deepening by framing three core dimensions of Solidarity Economy: Re-localization of economic activity, community-led governance and collective self-management. It also analyses the obstacles and opportunities they encounter, from European Union (EU) and Member State political institutions, as well as in their everyday practices as grassroots networks of community-led initiatives. 

The analysis led to the following outcomes:

Approaches to democratic deepening from the bottom up:

-	“Integral regeneration” (GEN-Europe): Development of dialogical and synergistic practices that seek to arrest and reverse both ecological degradation and loss of the cultural skills necessary for living in harmony with local environments, allowing people to form synergistic interrelationships with each other and with nature.
-	“Socioecological resilience” (TN): Develop skills and technologies for accelerating decarbonization and developing collaborative capacities for climate change adaptation.
-	“Emancipatory justice” (RIPESS-Europe): Support peripheral territories by promoting the use of endogenous resources; Promote the economic emancipation of underprivileged and marginalized groups through intersectional approaches to Solidarity Economy practices. 

Institutional obstacles:

-	The institutional structure of the EU currently constrained by a neoliberal hegemony that disciplines the popular sectors through the dismantling of labour unions, the privatization of public infrastructures and the institutionalization of corporate capitalist interests through Common Market regulations and international trade agreements.
-	The capitalist status quo is also supported by:
-	The division of competences between the EU and the Member States in social and environmental policies, which constrain the implementation of the EU Green Deal and Social Agenda by making them dependent upon Member State-level electoral politics.
-	A performance and efficiency-based approach, underlying the attribution of EU and Member State-level funds, which ensures that corporations remain the protagonists in the implementation of sustainability transition, territorial and social cohesion policies. 

Organizational obstacles:

-	Difficulty creating endogenous capital and reliance on public funds or philanthropy.
-	Networks prioritize mobilizing resources for day-to-day administration/management, communication and training activities for members.
-	Lack of availability and resources to develop skills in policy analysis and institutional communication (“lobbying”).

Opportunities:

-	Ties with global social movements, as well as Academia, are supporting these networks in “translating” their practices and narratives of networks, as well as developing common strategies and advocacy initiatives.

ER  -