Social Economy

Sonja Novkovic, Leslie Brown

• Publisher: Cape Breton University Press
• Year: 2013
• ISBN:
  9781927492222
• Topic: Economía
• Subtopic: Desarrollo sostenible

This book contributes to the growing literature on the social economy from the particular perspectives of Atlantic Canadians who have been part of the Social Economy and Sustainability Research Network. It illustrates the importance of the sector to the region's social, economic and public life while exploring its potential for positive change. Prefiguring an economy based on principles of human values and principles of solidarity, the social economy offers a space for people to exercise democracy in realms thought to be "economic" and thus exempt from such priorities. The social economy has the aim of development in a double sense—development of the individual and local or community development.

Part I. The Social Economy of Atlantic Canada

Catherine Leviten-Reid

Section Overview

In the SSHRC-funded social economy research initiatives that began across Canada in 2005, mapping exercises were undertaken to establish the contours of the social economy. This mapping was essential in that it allowed actors in the different nodes to identify the kinds of organizations involved, the scale and scope of activities pursued, and the functions of the social economy in their respective regions (cf. Gismondi and Ross 2010; Southcott et al. 2010). One can think of such an undertaking as akin to an asset mapping exercise that a community undertakes as a first step in the development process, wherein a diverse set of stakeholders are brought together to identify what lies within their community (Kretzmann and McKnight 1993). Such a process invariably leads to questions such as “well, what is an asset anyway?” and “what kinds of assets should we include?”

As can be imagined, mapping, while exciting and necessary, is not a straightforward exercise. This was the case not just in the Social Economy and Sustainability Research Network (SESRN), but in most of the other regional nodes as well as the national hub that provided a coordinating function for the Canada-wide project.

In the second chapter of this book, Brown and Millar discuss some of the challenges encountered in mapping the social economy as do Novkovic and Brown in the prologue. While the authors focus on Atlantic Canada, these challenges hold for other nodes within the pan-Canadian research initiative. For example, they write that the term “social economy” was new for many community partners who were more familiar with terms such as “non-profit organizations” or “social enterprises.” Further, community partners were typically focused on working in one specific sub-sector of the social economy (such as education) or with organizations of one specific legal type (such as co-operatives).

At least three additional challenges faced the mapping efforts in Canada. The diverse academic partners brought a range of research traditions and specializations to the table. Disciplines included, but were not limited to, economics, sociology, geography, business and political science; the interests of academics ranged from sub-sectors within the social economy to community-wide outcomes such as sustainable development.

Individuals and organizations were also coming to the table steeped in different, regionally-based economic realities and systems. Here one can think of the importance of subsistence activities such as the harvesting and sharing of wildfoods in northern Canada (Natcher 2009), to the dense web of formal co-operative businesses found in Saskatchewan.

Finally, many of the partners were familiar with, or even involved in, discussions regarding the contours of organizations and activities within more discrete elements of the social economy. There is a long history of debate regarding what constitutes a non-profit organization, including the extent to which a bona fide non-profit may receive funding from government or whether they must be formally incorporated (Hall and Banting 2000). There are also largely practitioner-based debates regarding what constitutes community economic development (CED) activities. In other words, must CED be comprehensive in scope and geographically based, or may it focus on the work of a single organization that improves the livelihoods of a specific target group, such as individuals with developmental disabilities (Toye and Chaland 2006)? Further, to what extent should CED initiatives take into consideration informal economic activities such as child rearing and elder care in their planning? In other words, is invisible, unpaid work a sphere of economic activity to which practitioners should pay close attention (Conn 2006)?

Just as it is important to define what constitutes an asset in a community mapping exercise (or what constitutes a non-profit or CED for that matter), establishing the contours of a construct like the social economy is a vital first step. It is important in the building of a social movement: knowing what falls under the social economy umbrella establishes which kinds of organizations might collaborate around advocacy work or resource sharing in order to promote a common cause. Of course, any policy development specifically focused on supporting the social economy requires an articulation of what the construct means in relation to the situation at hand. For example, if a municipality establishes a procurement policy in which their supplies and services are to be purchased from social economy organizations, which specific kinds of organizations would that entail? Could purchases be made from a worker co-operative, regardless of how dividends from the business are allocated to its owners? Or could contracts be sought from for-profit businesses that practise corporate social responsibility?

Chapter 2 tackles the question of “what is the social economy?” Rather than providing an exhaustive review of the literature on this subject, Thériault provides two straightforward approaches to answer. The first definition is based on the legal type of organizations in the social economy (including non-profits, co-operatives and mutuals) and the second focuses on the values of these associations. Social economy organizations involve collective action in order to meet demands for goods or services in a community. They are distinct from government, committed to democratic processes and actively seek to engage and involve participants, and they have social and economic objectives rather than profit-making as the focus of their economic activities.

Thériault also provides some impressive descriptive information on the scale of the social economy in New Brunswick, Nova Scotia, PEI and Newfoundland and Labrador, which reaches millions of volunteer hours, thousands of employees and billions of dollars in revenues, assets and sales. The types of activities in which social economy organizations are involved are equally impressive, ranging from health and social services, to media and information technology, housing and sports and recreation. More in-depth and dynamic descriptions of a subset of organizations found in Atlantic Canada are provided in chapter 3 by Brown and Millar.

Thériault also articulates that the size, scope and form of the social economy are not fixed. He explains that the social economy is one of four economic sectors: others are private for-profit, government and the informal sector. The role that each of these sectors play in the delivery of a good or service should be considered fluid and so can change (and indeed has) over time.

Brown and Millar address the fluidity of the social economy by conceptualizing it as, for one, a toolbox. In the toolbox are different types of organizations that have been available for people and communities to adopt and that may be modified depending on the needs and interests of those who adopt them. One case in point from Atlantic Canada is the Co-operative Management Education Co-operative (CMEC), a federally incorporated organization that delivers graduate training to managers of co-operatives through Saint Mary’s University in Halifax. While the more traditional model of incorporation for co-operative organizations has been to have a single stakeholder group involved in decision-making, CMEC has embraced a new governance model which allows for different stakeholder groups to be represented at the board table including funders of the Master’s program, educational partners and students.

Understanding the social economy as a toolbox notwithstanding, Brown and Millar also present readers with two additional features of the social economy. One is that it provides actors with the opportunity to address instrumental and expressive goals. An instrumental goal may be to provide an essential good or service, but the goal is accomplished in such a way that it allows actors to demonstrate values such as commitments to participation, inclusiveness and sustainability. The authors describe the Halifax Independent School, a SESRN partner, as one such example. The school was established to provide parents and their children with an educational opportunity not available elsewhere in the city. Parents were seeking an alternative curriculum and different mechanisms through which to be involved in decision-making, neither of which were available through existing public or private institutions. Second is that the social economy provides a platform through which groups of organizations may work together to mobilize, advocate and innovate. Brown and Millar describe La Récolte de Chez Nous (RCN) as one example. A co-operative of New Brunswick farmers, RCN provides educational opportunities in sustainable production, encourages consumption of local foods and works to increase the revenue of their members. The RCN is also involved in partnerships and networks related to its mandate which support the organization’s objectives on a broader scale unattainable by a small association working alone. To illustrate...

Table of contents

• Cover
• Title Page
• Copyright Notice
• Table of Contents
• Introduction
• Part I. The Social Economy of Atlantic Canada
• Part II. Mobilizing to Meet Community Needs
• Part III. Evaluation and Measures of Performance in the Social Economy
• Part IV. Policy Directions for the Social Economy
• Notes on Contributors
• Index