This collaboration between the Institute for Social Transformation at UC Santa Cruz and the USC Dornsife Equity Research Institute, Solidarity Economics uses data and analysis to contribute to a more powerful, well-resourced, intersectional, and intersectoral movement for equity.
The voices of socially, economically, racially, and environmentally marginalized communities are central in our work. Our work is inspired by the social movements for economic, racial, and environmental justice with which we have worked, nationally and around the globe, but particularly in our home state of California; indeed, this project is, in part, a response to requests from those groups for a more compelling and unifying economic narrative. We are also inspired by the solidarity economy movement, rooted in efforts to create alternative forms of political and economic organization rooted in solidarity. As we explain in our book, we use the term solidarity economics, rather than solidarity economy, to try to draw attention to the role of mutuality throughout our existing economy and to focus attention on the theoretical (as well as policy) gaps in traditional economics. For more information on the solidarity economy movement (as well as other movements and institutions), please see our resources page.
In this book Chris Benner and Manuel Pastor invite us to imagine and create a new sort of solidarity economics – an approach grounded in our instincts for connection and community – and in so doing, actually build a more robust, sustainable, and equitable economy. They argue that our current economy is already deeply dependent on mutuality, but that the inequality and fragmentation created by the status quo undermines this mutuality and with it our economic wellbeing. They outline the theoretical framing, policy agenda, and social movements we need to revive solidarity and apply it to whole societies.
Solidarity Economics is an essential read for anyone who longs for an economy that can generate prosperity, provide for all, and preserve the planet.
Dr. Chris Benner and Dr. Manuel Pastor’s Solidarity Economics is visualized in their upcoming comic. This comic highlights central aspects to understanding solidarity economics and implementing the approach to your own communities.
Thank You To Our Sponsors
This project was made possible by The Institute for New Economic Thinking (INET), and was also supported in part by grants from SEIU, The James Irvine Foundation, the W. K. Kellogg Foundation, and the Open Society Foundations.
solidarityeconomics.org used to be the domain of the UK based Solidarity Economy Association, which can now be found at solidarityeconomy.coop.