[Imc-alternatives] [Fwd: [USFT] Fwd: Announcing the launch of the U.S. Solidarity Economy Network (SEN-US)]

[Aaron Kreider]

They'd be interested in imc-alternatives.

Aaron

-------- Original Message --------
Subject: 	[USFT] Fwd: Announcing the launch of the U.S. Solidarity 
Economy Network (SEN-US)
Date: 	Tue, 14 Aug 2007 23:11:00 -0400
From: 	Dan Jaffee <jaffee at msu.edu>
To: 	usft at usft.org



    *Announcing the launch of the U.S. Solidarity Economy Network
    (SEN-US) <http://www.fguide.org/?p=115>*

Thursday, August 2, 2007 by Center for Popular Economics
Categories: News <http://www.fguide.org/?cat=3>, Social/Solidarity 
Economy <http://www.fguide.org/?cat=30>

July 27, 2007

Announcing the launch of the U.S. Solidarity Economy Network (SEN-US)

We are excited to announce the launch of the U.S. Solidarity Economy 
Network. The decision to launch was taken at the end of a series of 
meetings that were held at the U.S. Social Forum. The time is ripe for 
this initiative, given the explosive growth of the solidarity economy 
and representative networks virtually everywhere else in the world. In 
the U.S., not only is there no such network to support existing 
solidarity economy practices and policies, but the term and framework is 
practically unknown.

What, then, is the solidarity economy?

· The Solidarity Economy offers an alternative economic framework to 
that of neoliberal globalization - one that is grounded in solidarity 
and cooperation, rather than the pursuit of narrow, individual 
self-interest.

· It promotes social and economic democracy, equity in all dimensions 
(e.g. race, class, gender
) and sustainability.

· It is pluralist and organic in its approach, allowing for different 
forms and strategies in different contexts, and is open to continual 
change driven from the bottom up whether in civil society or the 
marketplace.

What does a solidarity economy look like? Here are just a few examples:

· cooperatives – worker, producer, consumer, housing, financial
· local exchange systems, complementary currencies
· fair trade & solidarity finance
· social enterprises
· ‘high road’ locally owned businesses
· reclaim the commons movement
· social investment funds, worker controlled pension funds and credit unions
· land trusts
· co-housing, eco-villages
· consumer supported agriculture
· green technology and ecological production
· open source movement (e.g. Linux, wikipedia, YouTube)
· unpaid care labor & volunteer labor
· participatory budgeting
· collective kitchens in Latin America, tontines – collective health 
programs in Africa

· community-based services in France, social cooperatives in Italy

Why a solidarity economy network?

There are serious cracks in the dominant neoliberal economic model and 
there is a historic opening to create and push for a new framework for 
social and economic development. The solidarity economy builds on the 
grassroots innovations of people, moved by desperation, practicality, 
values, or vision, who are building economic alternatives to provide 
jobs, food, housing, social services, healthier communities and money, 
as well as advancing economic democracy and more just economic policies. 
Taken together, they offer stepping stones toward a new way of 
organizing our economy. Creating a network to foster a common sense of 
identity and purpose has been powerful in other countries. To take one 
example, in Canada, the social solidarity economy network has forged a 
comprehensive national policy framework and has leveraged $132 million 
in government funding for investment, capacity building, research and 
training.

What are the aims of the SEN?

We have yet to hammer out a mission statement, but here are some 
preliminary ideas:

· To develop a structure and vision that can promote a common identity 
and agenda among the currently isolated elements of the solidarity economy.

· To contribute to new theories of economic development informed by the 
dynamism and innovative practices within the solidarity economy.

· To raise the visibility, legitimacy and public support for solidarity 
economy practices,

· To link up with regional and international solidarity economy networks 
such as NANSE and RIPESS.

· To promote public policies and leverage resources for the support of 
the solidarity economy.

· To facilitate research on the benefits of the solidarity economy, best 
practices, opportunities for synergistic cooperation, and the 
development of training and technical support resources.

· To build the movement for transformative social and economic justice.

Next steps

The SEN Coordinating Committee is in the process of:

1) Mission statement and structure: we are developing a provisional 
mission statement and structure proposal which will be circulated for 
wider discussion.

2) Membership: We anticipate putting out an invitation to organizations 
and individuals to join in approximately a month’s time.

3) Development: We are exploring funding opportunities. The Center for 
Popular Economics will provide fiscal sponsorship as well as staffing, 
provisional upon funding in the start-up stage of the network formation.

4) Action plan and timeline: as we build a broad representative 
coordinating committee and membership we will prioritize our objectives 
and seek resources to achieve them.

5) Resource development: collect and publish a book of the presentations 
in the Economic Alternatives & the Social/Solidarity Economy track at 
the U.S. Social Forum. Develop a SEN-US website.

We hope that you find this initiative as exciting and inspiring as we 
do. Join us in building the Solidarity Economy Network. Spread the word, 
and sign on to the SEN listserve to keep up with developments. Send a 
message to: ssecaucus-subscribe at lists.riseup.net

On behalf of the SEN Coordinating Committee,

Emily Kawano, Center for Popular Economics
Phone: (413) 545-0743 e-mail: emily at populareconomics.org
<mailto:emily at populareconomics.org>
SEN Coordinating Committee
Jessica Gordon-Nembhard, Grassroots Economic Organizing
Melissa Hoover, U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives
Emily Kawano, Center for Popular Economics
Julie Matthaei, Guramylay
Ethan Miller, Grassroots Economic Organizing (GEO)
Michael Menser, Amer. Fed. of Teachers, CUNY
Heather Schoonover, Institute for Agriculture and Trade Policy
Dan Swinney, Center for Labor and Community Research
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