Ethical, solidarity‐based citizen involvement in the economy: a prerequisite for social cohesion

Citation

Mesure, H. (2006), "Ethical, solidarity‐based citizen involvement in the economy: a prerequisite for social cohesion", Society and Business Review, Vol. 1 No. 3, pp. 284-285. https://doi.org/10.1108/17465680610706373

This book belongs to the “Trends in Social Cohesion” collection of the Council of Europe (CE). It is preceded of 11 titles that formalised the works of CE project “Making democratic institutions work”.

This new volume of the series analyses, from different angles, the new forms of economic solidarity and responsibility which European citizens are setting in place to respond to the modern‐day challenges of human environmental vulnerability. Nine contributions present how European citizen can commit themselves in new form of economic action such as ethical and solidarity finance or responsible consumption. The contributions are written by scholars or by members of the European Council. The book is introduced by Sabine Urban that discusses about how can solidarity based finance systems and responsible consumption contribute to social cohesion, this notion being in the heart of this book. Sabine Urban also presents the eight other chapters. The second chapter, written by Roberto Burlando: “ethics and economics: towards a solidarity‐based economy” is a reflexion on why do we need to introduce ethics into economy and into economics? The seven others chapters can be roughly divided three groups. The first group presents concepts that are linked to the “solidarity‐based economy” such as externality (in the lights of the solidarity economy), responsible or sustainable consumptions. The second group of contributions makes an inventory of the European legislation that implements this specific socio‐economy or proposes some legislative initiatives. The presentation of European solidarity finance systems or the necessary public‐private partnership to manage natural resources, food and human health compose the third group.

Throughout the reading it appears that the solidarity‐based economy is something that is emerging in European Community. The processes “are under way while question remained unanswered both in terms of concepts and the real advances made and their impact”. Therefore, the hypothesis that the solidarity‐based economy is marginal cannot be reasonably moved apart. More, a pessimist reading can even suggest that this form of economy could be marginalized being too much institutionalised by institution like the European Council. We can make two final observations. Firstly, Gilda Farrell suggests that this book should be read with a basic question in mind: “is it possible to give a ‘political’ meaning (in the sense of polis, the common good, or social cohesion) to individual economic choice?” Secondly, this book underlines that economy is not the only matter of firms and that is, consubstantially, a social and political phenomenon. The ways we own our life, we consume, we finance our retirement or our health, are not only economic decisions. They are political acts by which we create society. This conducts to a refoundation of the notion of citizenship in the context of the European Community. The book suggests than a European citizen should be someone that is daily committed mainly throughout his economic actions. Notice Hirschman (1982) demonstrated that is something that is not obvious.

This book can be recommended to those who are looking for an other vision of the European Community that stresses the word “community” rather than the word “economy”. Those who are interested by alternatives socio‐economics models will find precious conceptual and institutional references.