Imagine an economy that strives for well being, justice, community and individual fulfillment and long term resilience. The economy we have now is not natural, it’s designed by people and if we want to, we can change it.
What is “Solidarity Economy”?
1.
Solidarity economy is a dynamic and adaptive global movement and set of practices that advances a post-capitalist vision for our collective work and resources.
2.
Solidarity economy is a diverse system of production, distribution, exchange, consumption and surplus allocation grounded in values of Solidarity, Equity, Democracy, Sustainability and Pluralism.
3.
Solidarity economy is a culture that defends each living being’s right to well being, in harmony with each other and with nature.
When we talk about solidarity economy, we’re talking about transforming all of our economic relationships into alignment with our values. That happens in the workplace, in how everything we produce gets shared, in our relationship with natural resources and the planet, in how we plan in our towns and cities, in how we resolve problems and hold ourselves accountable to each other’s wellbeing etc. Solidarity economy in practice looks like worker owned cooperatives, community land trusts, community owned banks, transformative justice and healing, regenerative farming, participatory budgeting, food cooperatives and mutual aid (to name a few examples).
The internationally recognized baseline values of the solidarity economy are solidarity, democracy, equity, sustainability and pluralism. Check out the Our Network page to see how MASEN defines these values for ourselves. National networks like the US Solidarity Economy Network and the New Economy Coalition, and international networks like RIPESS are great places to connect with and learn about the solidarity economy outside of Massachusetts.
Where Capitalism
Fuels
Individualism
Hierarchy
Inequality
Extraction
Universalism
Solidarity Economy
Feeds
Solidarity
Democracy
Equity
Sustainability
Pluralism
Check out our Shared Vision and Education page to continue learning about the solidarity economy, in theory and in practice.