ABSTRACT

Thirty-years of economic transformation has turned China into one of the major players in the global capitalist economy. However, its economic growth has generated rising problems in inequality, alienation, and sustainability with the agrarian crises of the 1990s giving rise to real social outcry to the extent that they became the object of central government policy reformulations.

Contributing to a paradigm-shift in the theory and practices of economic development, this book examines the concept of social economy in China and around the world. It offers to rethink space, economy and community in a trans-border context which moves us beyond both planned and market economies. The chapters address theoretical issues, critical reflections and case studies on the practice of social economy in the context of globalization and its attempt to create an alternative modernity. Through this, the book builds a platform for further cross-disciplinary and cross-boundary dialogue on the future of social economy in China and the world.

With examples from Asia, North America, Latin America and Europe this book will not only appeal to students and scholars of Chinese and Asian social policy and development, but also those of social economy from an international perspective.

part I|58 pages

Rethinking economy

chapter 1|14 pages

Social economics and economic anthropology

Challenging conventional economic thinking and practice

chapter 2|24 pages

Mapping social and solidarity economy

The local and translocal evolution of a concept

part II|115 pages

Social economy in the world

chapter 5|17 pages

La Alameda

“Guerrilla” struggles to make the Argentine economy social

chapter 6|21 pages

Democratizing capital

Social and solidarity finance in Quebec

chapter 8|21 pages

Workers' cooperatives in Italy

Between solidarity and autocratic centralism

chapter 9|18 pages

Developing solidarity economy in Asia

Innovations in policy and practice

part III|106 pages

Social economy in Chinese societies

chapter 10|20 pages

Zhoujiazhuang village

A study of the heritage of the people's commune 1

chapter 12|18 pages

“Yingxiu mother” as agent of community development

Case study of a practice of community economy in Sichuan post-disaster rebuilding in China

chapter 13|12 pages

Local economy growing at a steady pace

The case of the peasant farming project by the Taiwan Rural Front 1

chapter 14|21 pages

In the struggle over urban space

The solidarity economy movement and urban utopianism in Hong Kong