Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE)

Origins and Development

The practical roots of the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) trace back to the 19th-century cooperative movement, mutual aid societies, and voluntary associations in Europe. The term 'social economy' (économie sociale) was first recorded in France around 1900, while 'solidarity economy' was used as early as 1937 by Felipe Alaiz, who advocated for economic solidarity among urban and rural worker collectives during the Spanish Civil War.

The modern SSE framework took shape in Latin America in the late 1990s. On July 4, 1997, participants from more than 30 countries gathered in Lima, Peru, for what would become the first meeting of the RIPESS network, agreeing on the need to integrate traditional social economy structures with more holistic solidarity economy practices. When RIPESS was formally launched in December 2002, it deliberately dropped the 'AND' from 'Social and Solidarity Economy' to emphasize a transformative, system-change agenda that goes beyond the social economy.

In 2022, the International Labour Organization (ILO) adopted a Resolution concerning Decent Work and the Social and Solidarity Economy, formally defining SSE within international labour governance. The ILO resolution grounds SSE in principles of 'voluntary cooperation and mutual aid, democratic and/or participatory governance, autonomy and independence, and the primacy of people and social purpose over capital in the distribution and use of surpluses and/or profits.'

The Korean Context

In South Korea, SSE discourse emerged following the 1997 Asian financial crisis alongside the growth of self-sufficiency enterprises, social enterprises, and community enterprises. Institutional foundations were laid with the Social Enterprise Promotion Act (2007) and the Framework Act on Cooperatives (2012). By the mid-2010s, competing bills for a Framework Act on the Social Economy were introduced in the National Assembly. The term 'social solidarity economy' (사회연대경제) gained currency in the 2020s as an integrative concept bridging the social economy and transformative solidarity economy traditions. As of 2025–2026, over 31,000 cooperatives form the backbone of Korea's SSE ecosystem.

Theoretical Position

SSE shares theoretical ground with Erik Olin Wright's 'real utopias' project and Marx's concept of the 'association of free producers.' SSE is linked to transition theory, which holds that non-capitalist economic forms can grow within capitalism and, when networked and politically organized, open a trajectory toward systemic transformation.