ABSTRACT
This chapter examines instances of autonomous and intermediary public spaces that are supporting solidarity economy-based practices in Eastern Europe countries where solidarity economy was widely stigmatised because of ideological misrepresentations of history. Based on case studies from Poland and the Czech Republic, it explores the territorial distribution of solidarity economy; where, when and with what kind of actors solidarity economy livelihood practices are happening and what social impacts they are making in local communities. It also examines the extent to which solidarity economy actors in Central and Eastern Europe are taking inspiration and guidance from their own rich history of cooperatives and mutual aid associations, and to what extent they are completely new phenomena influenced and encouraged by their modern counterparts in Western Europe. In researching this aspect of solidarity economy’s development in the region, it has a dual emphasis: on identifying instances of unique and region-specific approaches to solidarity economy livelihoods on the one hand and, on the other hand, describing cases that show how universal strategies and concepts are inspiring the emergence of local variants of a wider global movement.
