This collection of essays examines social economy from several different vantage points, linking practice and policy questions to issues such as the reorganization of work and the shift of social services to the community. You have read it already, it is unavoidable.

Cet article vise à examiner de manière critique et constructive l’actualité de la pensée de Karl Polanyi  pour comprendre le développement de l’économie plurielle au XXIe siècle et pour agir sur celui-ci. Il montre la très grande actualité de cette pensée, ainsi que la nécessité de s’intéresser à l’œuvre entière de Karl Polanyi, et pas seulement à « La grande transformation ». Partant des usages multiples du concept d’encastrement et de désencastrement, il relie les propositions inspirées par Karl Polanyi sur « le processus institué de démocratisation économique » à des développements récents tant pratiques que théoriques : les « marchés transitionnels du travail » et la « nouvelle finance publique ».

The fruit of a collaboration between many researchers on the social economy, this report presents an analysis of the theoretical approaches used in European and Canadian social economy research. First, the report provides an overview of the European solidarity economy paradigm. This is followed by an exploration of socioeconomic experiments in Canada and a thorough theoretical review covering a wide range of frameworks. The report also includes an exhaustive bibliography and many interesting social economy websites.

A short exegesis of Polanyi’s writings on the institutionalization of economic processes, especially processes of economic democratization.  Short, but very dense.

This paper attempts to provide a clear perspective on defining the social economy today. It addresses the question of the relevance of a unifying concept with its need to embrace the existing diversity of approaches and concepts. To this end, it surveys both historical and contemporary academic literature, as well as practice-rooted conceptualisations of the social economy. The first section outlines the analytical challenges to a reconstruction of the social economy concept. The second enhances the historical and space-bound diversity in theorising and institutionalising social economy practices. Section 3 focuses on contemporary reconceptualisations of the social economy in Francophone and Anglo-Saxon literature, while section 4 then suggests improvements to current ‘social economy’ concepts, by linking them to both the lessons of history and the views of social economy practitioners today.

This largely methodological paper focuses on how to define the social economy and its governance at the local and especially the urban neighbourhood level. A distinction is made between essentialist and holistic definitions. The second section appraises the potential contribution of various current ideas in institutional economics and economic sociology to the definition of the social economy and its governance. It is found that ‘old’ and ‘new’ institutionalism in particular offer useful tools, including the holistic methodology as applied by John Commons. The third section elaborates on the analytical elements required for defining the social economy from a holistic perspective, stressing the role of essentialist abstract categories, the role of local culture and articulation between spatial scales. First, we show how the notion of social capital defined through a ‘holistic approach’ can enrich the definition of the social economy. Secondly, we stress the importance of empirical investigations in feeding into the holistic definitional work. The fourth section concludes the paper by enhancing the necessary dialogue between an abstract-essentialist and a contextualised holistic definition of the social economy at the neighbourhood level.

Ce livre s’interesse a l’habitat communautaire au Quebec sous l’angle de l’innovation sociale. Il fait un bilan des dernieres decennies et identifie les defis, les enjeux et les perspectives de developpement qui se presentent avec des synthese analytiques et descriptives.

Broad macro overview of social enterprise in the North American context, with a focus on Canada and, of course, Quebec. Asks whether the cultural specificities of the many countries in which social enterprises now occupy a significant socio-economic and political place are forcing a convergence towards a new global perspective on poverty reduction, social inclusion and socio-economic development.

This paper provides an overview of the contemporary social economy in Quebec, its many achievements and results in terms of job creation and the promotion of collective enterprise. The focus, however, is on the evolution of the social economy in Quebec as a process. The analysis highlights the many elements that have allowed the social economy to assume the place it occupies in Quebec society today and the challenges that it confronts. The process of its evolution has been and will continue to be vital to the progress of the social economy in Quebec, and it is this process that provides important lessons for other regions.

More on the Quebec model, with an emphasis on the relationship between the social economy and the social movements that shaped the recent history of Quebec and on the transformative power of the third sector.

Brief overview of the social economy in Quebec, focusing especially on the contribution it makes to social innovation and public policy. Shows how the design of these public policies breaks with traditional policy formation, in which government departments devise and implement programs in isolation and from a top-down perspective to favour a co-constructive, horizontal and dialogic approach involving many stakeholders in society.

A counterpoint, of sort, to the other more positive portraits of the social economy in Quebec. Criticizes proponents of the Quebec model for overstating its transformative potential and downplaying its role as “an ideological tool of social cohesion that works in the end to further the agenda of the neoliberal state.”

Le but de cette présentation est d’examiner si l’émergence et l’institutionnalisation du réseau des EESAD constituent aussi une source d’innovations sociales. Notre analyse se fera à deux niveaux. Dans la première partie du texte, après avoir rappelé les principales caractéristiques d’une innovation sociale et présenté la petite histoire des entreprises d’économie sociale en aide domestique à travers leurs phases d’expérimentation et d’institutionnalisation, nous tenterons de déterminer si la mise en place de ce réseau d’entreprises d’économie sociale constitue une innovation sociale dans le domaine des services à domicile. Dans la deuxième partie, nous déplacerons notre point de vue du niveau macro ou sectoriel vers le niveau micro afin d’évaluer si ces entreprises constituent un terreau fertile à l’innovation sociale. En conclusion, nous tenterons de cerner certains facteurs qui freinent la capacité d’innovation de ces entreprises et quelques conditions à mettre en place pour libérer leur potentiel d’innovation.

This paper is devoted to analyzing the growing contribution of the social economy to social policy and comprises four parts. The first part proposes a definition of the social economy and aims at clarifying terms and concepts. In the second part, we look at the specific contribution of social economy organizations and enterprises in the realm of social policy. The third part examines the importance of citizen participation in the development of social policy and underlines the contribution of social economy to a more active citizenship. In the fourth part, we will address the question of a plural economy in which the social economy, through its interactions with the State and the market, impacts positively on the democratic and not so democratic workplace rules and practices within government and the for-profit sector.

A study of the emergence of two distinct ways of restructuring the delivery of homecare services. Ontario and Quebec are the focus of this chapter: two provinces which emphasize home care over institutional care, albeit with different policies. Quebec: CLSC (centre local des services communautaires) and Ontario: CCAC (Community Care Access Centres). This essay illustrates that both organizations straddle the border between the public and non-profit sectors, with non-profit and government players performing interconnected roles. Toward the end of the 20th century, the government of Ontario continued to rely on mixed public private provision and a major role for non-profit agencies with volunteer boards. It continued to reinforce the role of non-public agencies to deliver these services. At the same time, Quebec was turning away from non-public agencies as ‘separate systems’ and culminating relationships with the voluntary sector, calling for more community development, more local involvement, less centralization, and less institutionalization.

Les organismes d'économie sociale, dans le domaine des services aux personnes, s'intéressent de près à la recherche évaluative. Ils cherchent des moyens de mesurer leur apport socio-économique et de démontrer de façon tangible leur contribution à la société. De cette démonstration dépend en grande partie la place qu'ils occuperont dans les nouvelles configurations institutionnelles qui se constituent en réponse aux insuffisances du fordisme et du providentialisme. Dans ce texte, les auteurs présentent quelques expériences de recherche, menées au Laboratoire de recherche sur les pratiques et les politiques sociales (LAREPPS), qui touchent l'aspect évaluatif. Ces recherches en partenariat montrent comment chercheurs et intervenants des milieux de pratiques doivent s'adapter et collaborer pour construire des outils méthodologiques fiables et adaptés au terrain.

Depuis longtemps, au Québec, les organismes du tiers secteur jouent un rôle significatif dans l’offre des services de soutien à domicile. Cette offre de services a franchi une phase cruciale de développement, en 1996, lorsque le gouvernement du Québec, à la suite d’une deliberation publique déployée avec les acteurs de la société civile, a décidé d’impulser la création d’une centaine d’entreprises d’économie sociale en aide domestique (EESAD). Ces EESAD sont venues compléter l’offre de services publics de l’État québécois et participent ainsi de facto à une dynamique de coproduction des services dans un contexte de Mixed Economy incluant le tiers secteur. Mais au-delà de cette coproduction, ces entreprises cherchent à se positionner dans un processus de coconstruction avec l’État, c’est-à-dire dans un processus de construction conjointe et partenariale des politiques publiques balisant leur participation aux services d’intérêt public. L’analyse de ces deux processus montre que la situation des EESAD au Québec a oscillé, selon les périodes, entre la coproduction et diverses modalités de coconstruction. Certaines politiques budgétaires restrictives adoptées par l’État québécois ainsi que les tensions vécues au sein même des réseaux d’EESAD ont eu pour effet de freiner le développement d’un veritable processus de coconstruction, au cours des années 2000.

Cet article porte sur les notions de gouvernance partagée et de partenariat institutionnalisé, des formes qui sont traditionnellement associées aux politiques néolibérales. L’auteur soutient qu’il est possible de leur donner un autre contenu, de les mettre au service du bien commun et de la solidarité. En premier lieu, il est question du paradigme État-marché caractéristique des « Trente glorieuses », de ses origines, de ses origines mais aussi de ses défaillances. Dans un deuxième temps, l’auteur présente le nouveau paradigme de la gouvernance partagée et du partenariat institutionnalisé, qui semble s’imposer pour relever le défi des services d’intérêt général. Finalement, il expose les principaux défis qu’amènent ces deux éléments lorsqu’ils sont compris comme outils permettant de travailler à l’intérêt général.

Report from a conference on health cooperatives with a rather international flair (for a Saskatchewan university). Includes report on health coops in Japan, Spain, the USA and Canada. A little light on hardcore academic content, but good for illustrations and colour commentary. Of special interest: “User Participation and Quality of Home Support Services”.

Long (très long) rapport présentant les résultats d’une recherche au niveau national et régional sur portant sur les services dans le domaine des personnes ayant des incapacités au Québec. Les auteurs se penchent surtout sur l’impact de la désinstitutionalisation et de la non institutionalisation des services aux personnes ayant des incapacités. Ils explorent comment cette exigence d’intégration et de participation sociales accrue pour les personnes ayant des incapacités se traduit par une transformation des pratiques sur le terrain, en mettant notamment à contribution les organismes communautaires et les familles dans les services de soutien dans la communauté.

The focus in this publication is the role the social economy has in the provision of health and welfare services in four Canadian provinces. This entails: Quebec (childcare, homecare, and social housing); Ontario (commodification of government policies); Saskatchewan (homecare, food banks, and women’s shelters); New Brunswick (environmental and the women’s movement). The authors argue that the major crisis in the welfare state represents not only problems, but also opportunities. They acknowledge that each province differs in its context of the social economy. There are separate interests in each province; therefore, while some governments have embraced the social economy, others have distanced themselves from it. Each chapter discusses tensions and cooperation between the different governments (public sector), the market (private sector), and the informal and social economy.

This article surveys the history of community development in the local health and social service centres (commonly referred to as CLSCs) in the Province of Quebec. These developments are tied to three major steps in the evolution of policy as set out in a series of published reports. The development of the philosophy and mandate of the CLSCs is discussed and placed within the larger historical context of the 1980s as fiscal conservatism impacted on their operation and especially as it affected their community development role. The impact of these developments on the practice of community intervention work is presented in a case study, drawn from the author's experience as a participant observer in one urban CLSC. Linkages are made to policy developments as set out in the reports. The article concludes with an examination of current directions in community development policy and practice and makes some recommendations to strengthen these developments.

This case study aims is to characterize the impact of the Coop de solidarité en soins et services de Saint-Camille’s activities on the community using the five dimensions pertaining to social cohesion — territoriality, accessibility of services, employability, democracy, and connectivity. The establishment of a housing co-operative alongside a co-op offering alternative health-care services as well as educational entertainment led to the creation of a unique model, which has attracted significant attention. This entity is commonly referred to as La Corvée. The innovative nature of the organization’s legal form, an assemblage of various categories of co-operative membership, as well as the innovative nature of the project as a whole are demonstrated throughout this paper.