Reading Polanyi based on social and solidarity economy in Latin America

Abstract

This paper presents elements of social thought and of concepts developed by Karl Polanyi, in confrontation with economic neoliberalism, and draws a parallel with the current struggle against neoliberalism. Differences emerge when Latin America is considered: a bias that might be qualified as Eurocentric, which excludes considerations about the co-constitution of America and Europe, the structural heterogeneity that produces an incomplete market economy. However, it is coherent between Polanyi’s contribution and the proposal for building another economy with the collaboration of practices of social and solidarity economy, which is outlined in the present paper.