Field of Battle

Abstract

involved. SCMOs are said to represent life-style alternatives and forms of resistance to the traditional marketplace and the ‘bedrock’ within Social Solidarity Economy. They include a “broad range of organizations that are distinguished from conventional for-profit enterprise, entrepreneurship, and informal economy as they have explicit economic, social and environmental objectives.” There is also the more general issue of how SCMOs relate to capitalism and the market. “SCMOs are alternative organizations which, while contesting around capitalism and markets, experiment with alternative ways of organizing. This is done in the attempt to revamp moral principles (such as equality, democracy, and sustainability) within society and to contrast growing extremism and populism sentiments.” There is though little, if anything, in this collection on how SCMOs relate to capitalism or to markets. Hence, questions of the financing of SCMOs and their ownership are not addressed, nor the possibilities that profits are sought by the controllers of SCMOs which may be disguised as additional salary payments and benefits in kind; or the evolving of SCMOs into capitalist organisations (consider the fate of UK building societies). SCMOs are largely viewed in terms of their internal organisation but rather little is said of how they relate to other organisations and people in general through what may be termed market type relationships. There is though mention of Alternative Exchange Networks (AENs) that are solidarity-based exchanges and cooperative structures founded on principles of social and ecological values, participation and cooperation.