Regional Policy Frameworks of Social Solidarity Economy in South America

This research paper examines the deployment of Social Solidarity Economy (SSE) discourse within the regional policy frameworks of UNASUR and MERCOSUR, arguing that these frameworks treat SSE as a complement to capitalist economies rather than a new economic paradigm.

• While civil society presents the Social Solidarity Economy (SSE) as a new economic paradigm, regional policy frameworks instead implement it as a complement or add-on to dominant capitalist economies.
• Cooperatives and the SSE sector are framed as drivers of socioeconomic policy and regional integration, but their limited involvement in major integration projects prevents SSE from being mainstreamed.
• SSE is institutionally restricted to poverty eradication rather than economic restructuring because implementation is handled almost exclusively by ministers of social development. Furthermore, SSE's fiscal dependence on dominant industries fails to challenge economic centralization in key sectors.

APA

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research (2025). Regional Policy Frameworks of Social Solidarity Economy in South America. https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/regional-policy-frameworks-of-social-solidarity-economy-in-south-america/

Chicago

Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research. Regional Policy Frameworks of Social Solidarity Economy in South America. 2025. https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/regional-policy-frameworks-of-social-solidarity-economy-in-south-america/.

Wikipedia

{{cite report |author=Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research |title=Regional Policy Frameworks of Social Solidarity Economy in South America |date=17 January 2025 |url=https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/regional-policy-frameworks-of-social-solidarity-economy-in-south-america/ |access-date=17 August 2026 |via=Climate Insights Directory}}

BibTeX

@techreport{interamericaninstituteforglobalchangeresearch2025regional, author = {{Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}}, title = {{Regional Policy Frameworks of Social Solidarity Economy in South America}}, institution = {Inter-American Institute for Global Change Research}, year = {2025}, month = jan, url = {https://iai.int/es/pub_acad/regional-policy-frameworks-of-social-solidarity-economy-in-south-america/}, urldate = {2026-08-17}, note = {Indexed by Climate Insights Directory} }