Full Description
When citizens take collaborative action to meet the needs of theircommunity, they are participating in the social economy. Co-operatives,community-based social services, local non-profit organizations, andcharitable foundations are all examples of social economies thatemphasize mutual benefit rather than the accumulation of profit. Whilesuch groups often participate in market-based activities to achievetheir goals, they also pose an alternative to the capitalist marketeconomy. Contributors to Scaling Up investigated innovativesocial economies in British Columbia and Alberta and discovered thatachieving a social good through collective, grassroots enterpriseresulted in a sustainable way of satisfying human needs that was also,by extension, environmentally responsible. As these case studiesillustrate, organizations that are capable of harnessing the power of asocial economy generally demonstrate a commitment to three outcomes:greater social justice, financial self-sufficiency, and environmentalsustainability. Within the matrix of these three allied principles lienew strategic directions for the politics of sustainability.
Contents
List of Tables and Figures ix
Acknowledgements xi
Introduction: Social Economics and Sustainability / MikeGismondi, Sean Connelly, Mary Beckie, Sean Markey, and MarkRoseland
1 Towards Convergence: An Exploratory Framework 7 / SeanConnelly, Mike Gismondi, Sean Markey, and Mark Roseland
2 The Green Social Economy in British Columbia and Alberta 27 /Mike Gismondi, Lynda Ross, and Juanita Marois
3 The Role of the Social Economy in Scaling Up Alternative FoodInitiatives 59 / Mary Beckie and Sean Connelly
4 Human Services and the Caring Society 83 / JohnRestakis
5 Towards Sustainable Resource Management: Community Energy andForestry in British Columbia and Alberta 113 / Julie L.MacArthur
6 Evolving Conceptions of the Social Economy: The Arts, Culture, andTourism in Alert Bay 147 / Kelly Vodden, Lillian Hunt, and RandyBell
7 Non-Profit and Co-operative Organizations and the Provision ofSocial Housing 171 / George Penfold, Lauren Rethoret, and TerriMacDonald
8 Land Tenure Innovations for Sustainable Communities 195 /Marena Brinkhurst and Mark Roseland
9 Sustaining Social Democracy Through Heritage-Building Conservation223 / Noel Keough, Mike Gismondi, and ErinSwift-Leppäkumpu
10 Strong Institutions, Weak Strategies: Credit Unions and the RuralSocial Economy 249 / Sean Markey, Freya Kristensen, and StewartPerry
Conclusion "Social Economizing" Sustainability 271 /Mike Gismondi, Sean Connelly, and Sean Markey
List of Contributors 299
