Solidarity economy and sustainability of life: or how to build ways of liveable life. The experience in La Base, Barcelona

Abstract

In recent times socio- economic alternative modalities are being established, which are ever-increasing its adherents worldwide. Beyond the debates and different forms of expression in each context, Solidarity Economy (SE) can be identified as a heterogeneous set of socio-economic enterprises, which are built based on horizontal relationships among its members. Its principles are solidarity and mutual support, considering as well the environmental and community contexts as central elements of their actions. Finally, they seek for partnerships through collaborative networking.

The proposal of those experiences seems to agree with the feminist movement in relation to the need for other forms of social organization that contribute to create egalitarian ways of life. However, the SE has been questioned by feminisms (Nobre 2003; Guerin 2004; Matthaei 2010) because of some androcentric biases in the looks on the economy. In particular the lack of visibility on the tasks that sustain life and the need for upgrading and redistributing them within the groups. Similarly, and despite criticism, it has been recognized in its practices the possibility of creating other kind of social relations and the need to build bridges and dialogue between the two proposals.

In this article we share the thoughts that arise from an activist-research process in the Ateneu Cooperativo La Base in Barcelona. And we take the proposal of Sustainability of life developed by feminist economists (Carrasco 2001; Pérez-Orozco 2014) as the political and theoretical tool to analyze it. This approach allowed us to deepen the dialogue with the experiences in the SE in relation to two axes: i) to visualize the interdependence and to value the different tasks and jobs that sustain life of the collective; ii) revaluing the affective-relational component in the links and its significance for social transformation. This dialogue with feminist economy can: visualize and strengthen the practices that already exist within the SE with a perspective of the sustainability of life, an inspiration for the change of mindset to put life in the centre, and to pull for a radical policy of affection