Asian Alliance for Solidarity Economy

by: Miguel Yasuyuki Hirota (mig@olccjp.net)

1. 1. SE’s achievements in Asia

The arrival of the concept of SE to Asia was rather late in comparison with other continents and it was only October 2007 when the 1^st Asian Forum for SE took place at Manila, the Philippines.  Workshops on this new economy took place in October 2008 at Bangkok, Thailand and in March 2009 at Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia when the Asian Alliance for SE (AA4SE, http://www.aa4se.com/) was established, but the term SE is still very little known, even in comparison with Europe or Latin America.

But this does not mean that SE experiences are foreign to Asia: there are indeed a number of unarticulated grass-root practices in many countries, such as consumers’ coops and NPO Banks in Japan, social enterprises in Korea, microfinance initiatives (remember that this movement was born in Bangladesh!) all over the region, local currencies in Japan, Korea, Taiwan and Hong Kong, elderly-care groups in Japan and CSR-minded small businesses throughout Southeast Asia, just to name a few.

1. 2. Challenges for Asia:

Some challenges should be taken into account seriously if we are to promote SE and to articulate its players all over this continent.

Linguistic diversity: it should be remembered that Asia has a number of mutually-unintelligible languages, such as: Bengali (Bangladesh), Burmese (Myanmar), Cambodian (Cambodia), Hindi-Urdu (India and Pakistan), Japanese (Japan), Korean (North and South Korea), Lao (Laos), Mandarin (China and Taiwan), Malay-Indonesian (Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore), Mongolian (Mongolia), Sinhalese (Sri Lanka), Filipino (the Philippines), Tamil (India, Sri Lanka etc.), Thai (Thailand), Vietnamese (Vietnam).  While in some countries English is widely spoken, it should be taken into account that most SE players in Asia only speak their respective country’s official language (Thai if they live in Thailand, for instance), making it tough for SE players to be articulated and to communicate each other beyond the language (=national) border.

This linguistic diversity poses another challenge on promoting SE in each Asian country too: since most people, including professors and public servants, are often not good at English, it is required that at least some basic information on this topic should be given in each country’s official language so that opinion leaders throughout the continent could share our perspective on SE and let it known to people in their respective language.

Geographical and psychological distance from other continents: another important remark is that most countries where the SE movement has been consolidated are non-English-speaking countries (France, Italy, Spain, Latin America and Québec) with which Asians usually do not have strong relationship. The traditional lack of links between these continents makes it harder for Asians to grasp what is happening globally in terms of SE and to exchange experiences with them.

1. 3. Perspectives and proposals for the next decade

Although the consolidation of SE players in Asia is still in an early stage, the coming years will see important events, such as the 3^rd Asian Forum in Malaysia in 2011 and the 5^th RIPESS conference in 2013.  It is quite important to make the best use of all available resources in order to maximise our synergy and take more steps forward.  Some proposals will be given below to help promote the SE movement in Asia:

Creation of multilingual platforms: the lack of information on SE and of international communication among Asian SE players who do not speak English has been the biggest hurdle, so it is crucial to set up platforms to get it over.  I would like to suggest the creation of following tools so that more Asians should be familiar with SE and be articulated better.  Obviously a huge amount of money would be required for translation services, but this cost should be regarded as something indispensable and efforts should be done to win such a funding.

-       Creation of another portal website on SE in Asian languages (not only English but also Chinese, Japanese, Thai etc.): this is not to deny AA4SE’s efforts so far to share information, but it would be ideal if more information could be provided in more Asian languages so that SE players, researchers, policymakers etc. could learn what SE is, how SE is practiced in Asia and other continents etc.

-       Creation of multilingual communication method: the multilingual discussion groups managed by Alliance 21 WSSE (now ALOE) with translation service between English, French and Spanish / Portuguese has been a key factor on articulating SE players and to stimulate communications among them, but it is crucial to provide similar services among key Asian languages if we are to expect same results. More SE players are expected to be articulated only when they feel linguistically comfortable, so it is indispensable to set up a platform in which people could communicate in Chinese, Indonesia, Japanese, Thai and other Asian languages.

Exchange of young SE players / students: it is essential that more Asians should understand how SE has been growing in the world in order to transfer such experiences to their own countries.  So it would be helpful if some programmes could be set up to promote exchange of the youth.  The mutual exchange (not only Asian youth to other continents but youths from other continents to Asia) would strengthen mutual understanding in terms of SE practices, and such articulators will help both quantitative and qualitative development of solidarity economy in Asia.

The Pactes Locaux are a collective of actors, founded in 1998.  In 2005 they became an officially registered NGO. Between 2007 and 2009, they worked on the approach of open capitalisation based on the broad theme of “Democratic participation and territorial anchorage”. This was the preparation for the International Forum of Lux’09, the IVth Meeting for the Globalisation of Solidarity of RIPESS  (workshop 7), organised in Luxemburg by INEES, the European Institute for Solidarity Economy.

The Pactes Locaux mobilised on a voluntary basis, over and above the members’ own individual activities to reach a specific objective. Their contribution to both French and European discussions has been original, and is based on their significant territorial achievements in dealing with key issues of today’s society. They held five regional meetings supported by a European working Platform. Expert practitioners presented their work at territorial level: work and employment issues in Poitou-Charentes, responsible tourism in Auvergne, local development and solidarity economy in Luxemburg, social cohesion and well-being in the urban environment of Fontenay-sous-Bois, rural/urban solidarity and the associated economy in the metroposiation of Nord-Pas-de-Calais.

This contribution has now been duly recognised. It is an element that allows the members to propose the “learning journey” approach as a tool for learning from each other in a variety of contexts. It is a horizontal practice that helps build bridges between generations and develop an understanding of stakes as well as constructing responsible territorial actions. The meeting that was held on December 1st in Poitiers (France) ended the Lux’09 cycle. It also helped to confirm that our projects resonate with other territories.

This process jointly served the following ends:

-    The Lux’09 Forum (cross-cutting and internationalisation of Workshop 7)

-    The FPH (dissemination / discussion of a new approach to œconomy, territories as actors, institutional connections)

- Of the members and associate partners

- The people responsible for developing the dynamics of Asia 2013 have adopted the territorial anchoring of solidarity economy; they now consider us as partners.

The positive evaluation of Lux’09 provides a lever for the future. The Pactes Locaux are a small, open collective. They are not party-political affiliated or members of any institutional organisation. Their recognition reaches beyond what they represent in terms of membership. They remain a small dedicated team, united by what they have learned and their determination as civil society, to  take on reposnibility and change the system..

The Pactes Locaux intend continuing their work on European territorial cohesion. They hope to work on themes and in areas where their members and associate partners and those interested in taking part in the future, can work together. They hope to do this by demonstrating how reality and the expertise gained from practical know-how can help to illustrate, discuss and propose new ways of organising solidarity that can have a considerable impact and help open doors to solutions to the current crisis.

8.5 million jobs have been lost in Europe since 2008. In France, 1 million people will lose their job-seekers allowances in 2010. Exclusion is becoming the rule rather than the exception. The institutions are not supporting those actors involved in hands-on work. Things are becoming increasingly difficult. The Pactes Locaux will not succeed on their own. The question is how to preserve our individual freedom, while supporting each other and serving the interest of all? Learning to work as partners involves a legitimate confrontation of ideas and genuinely working together.

This means being realistic and taking stock, the better to position the collective. The members of the collective have decided to:

- Continue the commitment to work in those territories and networks that make sense to them, and where they are already present

-    Provide each other with mutual support in their respective activities, with priority support for the in-depth projects

- Promote the “Learning Journey” approach as an awareness-raising framework for learning, co-operating and bringing together local actors

- Jointly work on developing means of paid work

- Specifically aim to contact elected local representatives: future local councillors, intercommunal elected representatives, members of collective approaches such as Districts, Agenda 21s, social networks…. The current context favours a return to things local, which is fundamentally important to sustainable development, employment, peace etc… It also shows what a huge deficit exists in the ability to accompany progress and pull together as a system, rather than pulling strings from above or the outside. This is true in all fields: economic, political or alternative approaches. This missing link, the interface between branches and different levels has yet to be created if we are to reach a better understanding and effectively implement an operational approach to restructuring our territories

- Become and remain, active partners in FPH, RIPESS Europe and in French and European territorial networks,  activities and events

- Continue working on consensual aspects of Workshop 7 “Democratic Participation and territorial anchorage” (Forum Lux’09, April 2009) in Europe, and prepare for the Asian Solidarity Economy Forum in Kuala Lumpur in 2011 and “The Road to Manila 2013” (the Vth International RIPESS Meeting).

Contacts.

-    President : France Joubert: +33 (0)6 70 001 467; francejoubert@wanadoo.fr

-    General Secretary: Martine Theveniaut: + 33 (0)4 686 99 288; martine.theveniaut4@orange.fr. Extended in-depth projects: project leaders.

-    France Joubert: +33 (0)6 70 001 467; francejoubert@wanadoo.fr. Employment and activities, social territorial dialogue: what alliances in/between territories?

- Alain Laurent:   +33 (0)5 61 624 68 ; beira.cfp@wanadoo.fr. Tourism and responsible territories: How can they converge?

- Bruno Racine: +33 (0)6 70 160 489; brunoracine@free.fr. What governance for developing territorial cohesion?

Martine Theveniaut: + 33 (0)4 686 99 288 martine.theveniaut4@orange.fr. «The road to Manilla 2013»: solidarity and territory, an international process.

- Peter Wollny: +33 (0)4 68 318 729; pw@base-sur-audois.fr. ICTs – a vector of democracy and initiatives for collective territoiral  projects

Headquarters: 5 rue de Cadène F – 11580 Alet les

By Judith Hitchman

Firstly, happy new year to you.

I fully concur with the idea of this tranfer, and wholeheartedly agree that the communication issues need to be discussed

For the last five years or so I have sporadically played a part in helping facilitate communication within RIPESS between English & French speakers, (Spanish is not one of my own work languages) both in translating and also as you know in organising interpreting for the whole Lux09 meeting.

The communication in any international network plays a crtical part in the success or failure to grow & have a socially relevant impact. It is therefore paramount that we develop both tools and a team to support RIPESS on the road towards 2013.

There are a certain number of tools, such as electronic fora and newsletters that can help. Concerning the fora, they are difficult to manage, because people need to be motivated to moderate them and to make contributions. My own feeling is that they work best on short term projects (which can be multiplied). Francoise Wautiez has a lot of experience in that. The one moderated by Martine Theveniaut before your Tokyo meeting worked well, because she uploaded a lot of contributions… Those in the count-down to Lux09 were not so successful… Contributions also tend to be in the language in which the Forum is launched, and tend not to cross the language divide naturally, so translation & summaries are required.

Newsletters (particularly global ones) can only work if people effectively contribute from their regions. Eric Lavilluniere who I have included on this list, as a RIPESS EU representative and organiser of fora & newsletters has a lot of experience & can input good ideas.

One key question (a perpetual one) is how to balance voluntary contributions in terms of the work required (a lot with the need to pay the bills, so the network & those participating in the work can meet the objectives, and and finding the requisite funding for the work. For those who are salaried workers, the voluntary issue is easily sorted. For those wo are retired, likewise. For the rest of us (and most interpreters/translators fall into this category) there is an on-going dilemma of commitment versus the need to pay feed the family/pay the bills etc, which means that we sometimes are/are not able do the work.

Many networks are in this situation today. The Via Campesina has created a pool of volunteer translators that is sufficiently big to get everything translated into all 3 key languages all the time. The Assembly of Social Movements is trying to do the same, and has just started to publish a monthly newsletter in EN/FR & ES. What seems to be happening is an increase in effective communication. But the key to this is to either succeed in building up a core team of translators that is big enough (very difficult but not impossible) or raise funding to pay a dedicated team to do the work.

Having analysed some of the communication issues, I do think they still require some thought and organisational as well as financial support! However i want to say that I shall do all I can to help as much as possible.

Best wishes.

Held in Johannesburg, South Africa, from 19 to 21 October 2009

Published in INEES Newsletter No. 15 January 2010

Institut Europeen d’ Economie Solidaire

By Madani KOUMARE – Président du RENAPESS Mali

Coadministrateur au RIPESS pour l’Afrique

At this conference a range of topics were addressed during sessions led by speakers from Africa and the rest of the world. The discussions covered issues such as the definition of the Social Economy, the typology and the characteristics of the actors, various experiences that have been successfully promoted in different sectors by a variety of public and private actors and the new developments within the cooperative movement and social enterprises.

During the session on the Contours of the social economy in Africa, the participants were informed about the way in which RIPESS has developed over the course of the years, the dynamics of the SSE in Africa and the experiences accumulated in this area. These explanations, which were given both in the plenary and workshop sessions, served to raise the interest of the participants from Africa on the one hand and, on the other, to emphasise the added value that RIPESS-Africa is able to contribute to the ILO agenda in Africa.

However, the most important aspect of this conference was that it provided the African participants with detailed information about the current situation (development of the RIPESS, existence of an African vision of the SSE, existing networks, emerging initiatives…) and future perspectives. They were also given the opportunity to sign up to the network possibilities that exist within RIPESS and this led to the establishment of a list of 73 people from almost all of the African countries.

The representatives from the networks in Morocco (REMESS), Guinea (REGESS), Senegal (GSESS) and, of course, from Mali (RENAPESS) began to draw up a road map that will lead to the creation of an African network. An African meeting is due to take place in Morocco in June 2010.

Furthermore, Nancy Neamtan from the Chantier de L’ES in Quebec presented the Quebec experience and all of the added value that had been accumulated within the network. A consensus of opinion was reached around the promotion of the SSE as a response to the crisis in Africa. However, there is a need to develop a multi-actor partnership in order to make this viable. It is the task of the African networks, which have now been granted recognition in terms of their mission, to organize themselves so that they are able play their role and take their place in the efforts required to implement the action plan.

The national networks have already begun to hold exchanges on the road map in the lead-up to the African meeting in June 2010, including the next steps to be taken as part of this new work plan.

Social economy, solidarity economy, community development…there is a general expression of the need to think and implement a different kind of economic activity.

But the actors often use different terms from one country to another, even if the principles and the values are similar. The wealth of practice and concepts of socialand solidarity economy are both a challenge for building cohesion and a recognition of its existence.

A space for sharing and disseminating social and solidarity economy concepts and practices

Solecopedia is an open multilingual intercultural encyclopaedia based on the participation of actors and researchers in the social and solidarity economy sector in many different countries. The work process is collaborative and participatory and is moderated by a team of intercultural professional moderators.

Its aim is to help actors gain a better mutual understanding of each other. It hopes to overcome the communication problems that exist between different languages and different sectors through exchanging views and thoughts on the words that are most frequently used.

A collaborative and participatory way of working

A simplified platform (Wiki) allows all actors to upload and comment the main terms used in their practice in their own language. It is already operational in 5 languages: French, English, Spanish, German and Portuguese; other languages can be added as needed. The links between languages and comments allow people to develop a grasp of the subtleties, while strengthening the shared ground.

Complementarities with ongoing projects

Solecopedia is part of a number of current initiatives aimed at developing a reference framework and mapping the companies and initiatives whose values are those of this economic alternative. By providing the possibilities to exchange on the ideas and values involved, Solecopedia hopes to contribute to the overall coherence of the process. We are currently working to identify and contact the authors of existing glossaries and dictionaries in the field of social and solidarity economy, and hope to include them under a Creative Commons free licence.

We are also contacting the key actors in the main countries in Western Europe, North and Latin America; we are of course open to exchange with other continents. The links to the dynamics of reference frameworks and mapping are largely thanks to our team’s participation in the RIPESS Europe “communication” group.

Participate in the launch of Solecopedia www.solecopedia.org

If you are an actor in social or solidarity economy; you can contribute to developing Solecopedia by inputting the theoretical and practical aspects you know. As in all collaborative approaches, the first steps are particularly critical. This is why your participation is important, even if you write only one or two items.

1. Write one or several items on the key notions that you consider essential in the practice of your social and solidarity economy activities (fair trade, solidarity finance…) and/or alternative economy (organic agriculture, eco-design…). Try to be neutral, factual, objective and clear, and also to contextualise the information. At this point, please feel free to refer to texts that you have written, and also use existing material on Wikipedia to complete and extract items where they exist.

(Wikipedia is a general encyclopaedia, and the social and solidarity terms may be insufficiently explained). Write in the language your networks normally use. Solecopedia is available in French, English, Spanish, Portuguese and German. Other languages will be added as required. If you know terms that are specific to another language, please include them with an explanation in one of the above languages.

Please bear the readers in mind, and take the following simple rules available on the site into account. Here is a summary:

- Start by an introductory summary

- Contextualise your article, bearing ordinary readers in mind

- Write paragraphs that are short enough to be understandable, and long enough to develop the ideas. Separate ideas by new paragraph titles.

- Prepare the list of new terms, the references to articles, any bibliographic elements, internal links, interwiki links (other languages, other wikis) and external links for the appendix.

2. You can publish your contribution in one of two ways, depending on your articles, and your familiarity with Internet:

a) You can send us your contributions to contact@solecopedia.org using the software of your choice, with a summary (list of paragraph titles) and appendix. Please include all links.

b) Create your account on Solecopedia.org in a few simple clicks (the link is on the top right-hand side of the page). Then check if the term or expression is already there. If it isn’t, create the page. If it is, read and complete or comment on the existing page.

The Lexis project team

The team is composed of professionals with many years experience of moderation in intercultural communication. They have been involved in social and solidarity economy projects in many different countries and are members of European networks that will contribute to the Solecopedia contents.

Pierre Johnson, project co-ordinator. Researcher in ecological economy and consultant, WFTO associate member. Specialist in international trade, Fair Trade, and sustainable development. He was the creator of the first international fair trade social network in 2000.

Judith Hitchman, consultant, interpreter and intercultural mediator. One of the initiators of intercultural management in business in the 1970s; joint editor of the International Newsletter for Sustainable Local Development, with Yvon Poirier (Quebec) and Martine Theveniaut (France).

Do not hesitate to contact us for any additional information. If you do, please send us your:

Your name:

Your association /NGO/company

Your job title

Your country

Summary of the object of your question of proposal

Many thanks for your participation

The Solecopedia team

Pierre Johnson & Judith Hitchman

contact@solecopedia.org

by Yvon Poirier

Québec, Canada

November 16, 2009

During the last session, I mentioned the problems with the way the origins of Solidarity Economy as a concept were presented in the draft Statement.  The draft says that the concept emerged within the WSF process (2001 to today).  This is not the case.  The different meetings of the WSF were useful, but other meetings and activities probably had more impact in developing the concept.

Early origins: 1986 to 1997

After contacted many different persons, I have found that the concept was first used in South America and in France, at about the same time, 1985 or 1986.

The exact origins in South America are known.  Luis Rozetto from Chile is regarded as the author who has made the concept well known in South America since 1986.  In his website (in Spanish only), http://www.economiasolidaria.net/, he has many publications on this subject. He even mentions that the Pope John Paul II said in a speech in his trip to South America «An economy of solidarity is a great hope for South America».  This website is dedicated to an online Masters on «Solidarity Economy and Sustainable Development».

At about the same time, the expression became known in France. However, I have not found which author first used the expression, and in what year. One possible author is Jean-Louis Laville. However, I have not been able to confirm this.  Different activists in France have confirmed that it started getting used in the late eighties.

The concept started being used in a fairly large scale by practitioners, in France and in South America in the nineties. In France, a non-profit calling itself REAS was started in 1990 or 1991. The acronym in English would be «Alternative and Solidarity Economy Network».  They had members in many regions in France. In 1993, I visited the headquarter in Paris (established in an abandoned factory). They were running different businesses such as a restaurant training young people who were on welfare, a Fair Trade shop, an incubator for small businesses,  microfinance activities, etc. Even if they went bankrupt in 1998, they had a large impact. There still exists today a REAS in Spain.

Again in France, in October 1995, a half page advertisement was published in the newspaper Le Monde. It was called «Appeal for a Solidarity Economy». This appeal was signed by hundreds of leading Solidarity Economy practitioners and intellectuals.  At about the same time, the expression became known in the French speaking province of Quebec in Canada, since extensive links exist with France.

In March 1997, a group of University people, from French and Spanish speaking countries, met at Leuven University in Belgium.  They decided the time was ripe to organise international meetings.

Building Solidarity Economy: 1997 to 2009

Three initiatives that complement each other.

A. Globalisation of Solidarity meetings  : RIPESS

The first meeting was held in Lima, Peru, in September 1997. They were expecting 175 participants. Much to their surprise, they had almost 400, from about 35 countries.  Considering this success, and the growing interest of networking in an era of growing neoliberalism, they decided to organise other meetings.

Since then, international meetings are held every four years, alternating South-North.  In October 2001 in Quebec City (over 400 participants), in Dakar Senegal in November 2005 (1200 participants) and in Luxemburg last April (700 participants). At the first two meetings, almost all participants were either, French, Spanish or Portuguese, speaking.  At the 2005 and 2009 meetings, there have been more and more participants from other countries, including Asian countries. However, they are still in minority (in part because of lack of funds for travel).

In most continents, continental meetings are being organised since 2005. Latin America has had 3 continental meetings and now Asia has had two.

B. The Workshop on Social Solidarity Economy (WSSE) and ALOE

After the world meeting organised by the FPH in 2001 in France, the FPH supported the creation of different work groups (over 20).  One of them, the WSSE, became quite dynamic in promotion Solidarity Economy. The WSSE became a sort of think tank of SSE, made up of individuals from different continents, including some members of organisations involved in RIPESS. In 2007, the WSSE became ALOE: Alliance for a Responsible, Plural and Solidarity Economy. The ALOE was formally launched by Marcos Arruda in October 2007 at the first Asia Forum. http://aloe.socioeco.org/

C. The WSF events: 2001-2009

Solidarity Economy activists have been attending WSF events since the first Forum in 2001.  The process of the WSF needs to be explained. The organisers, in respecting the Charter they have, let different movements organise themselves workshops and other activities.

In other works, the WSF does not organise activities on SE (or any other subject).  The initiatives come exclusively come the social movements themselves.

The WSF was a great opportunity for Brazilian SE activists.  It was in one of the first Forums that they decided to set up the Brazilian Solidarity Economy Forum (FBES). At the 2003 Forum in Brazil and at the 2004 event in Mumbai, many workshops were organised by activists. For the 2005 event in Porto Alegre, «economic alternatives» was one of the 11 themes.  Together, RIPESS and ALOE organised different workshops.

At the last Forum in Belém last January, there were again many workshops organised either by the FBES or different other organisations.  The FBES was in charge of logistics (food for example) for this section of the event.

Our friends from the FBES have explained that SE has a strategic problem within the WSF process.  Solidarity Economy itself is not used by the WSF organisational committee.  The organisers (and the official programs) use expressions such as alternative economy, etc.  One of the reasons is that RIPESS is not a member of the WSF international council.  The «members» of the organisation have a bigger say on the format, and the way things are named, than non-members.  On light of this situation, the RIPESS Board has decided to apply to become a member of the International Council. This is not done yet. However, RIPESS has now started to attend meetings as observer.

Even if SE does not have full recognition in the WSF process, the different meetings have been a great occasion for SE practitioners, supporters, activist, intellectuals, etc.  Since the meetings are yearly (either in the global meetings every 2 years, or the regional or country forums), this has helped very much.  For example, it was at the first US Social Forum in Atlanta in June 2007 that US SEN (Solidarity Economy Network) was born.

To conclude

The promotion and use of Solidarity Economy has grown through a complex and interrelated process.  The three related initiatives have been intertwined in good part. Many individuals and organisations have participated directly within the 3 initiatives. Since the RIPESS meetings are held every four years, the annual events of the WSF have been of strategic importance to meet regularly, including meetings of the RIPESS Board. The WSSE and now ALOE has also helped extensively in elaborating the concept, and in its promotion.

This document was written according to the knowledge gathered over the years. However, a note of caution.  There are certainly many facts that are incomplete (not having attended all meetings) and the above analysis is certainly an interpretation on my part.

For North America, I am attaching to this message a paper written with the help of Emily Kawano. In particular, we relate the way the concept got to be known and grown in North America.