ABSTRACT
This chapter shows how the various types of social enterprise have to be relocated in the conflicting history of continental Latin America, and how certain practices were “invisibilised” in the course of this history. The literature about social enterprise mentions many different types of initiatives, using expressions such as “blurred boundaries” to describe how the private, public and community sectors have become intermingled in contemporary societies. The meaning of solidarity changed with the democratic revolutions and the process of independence that took place on the American continent. Solidarity goes beyond householding to reorganise reciprocity and introduces the idea of egalitarian reciprocity experienced through direct interaction between citizens. New alliances between social movements and the popular economy have emerged, leading to a conception of the solidarity economy as a socio-economic and socio-political phenomenon. Socially oriented private initiatives are expected to work together, as proposed by the social-business, venture-philanthropy and bottom-of-the-pyramid models.
