This book gathers together material on the social economy from around the world. The Social Economy is a topic of considerable contemporary research and policy interest. From creches to environmental services, from consumer cooperatives to social housing, governments in many countries have begun to introduce legislation to support social enterprises. Taking case studies from Australasia, Europe, North America and Latin America, this book outlines the different ways that the social economy takes place according to locally specific factors. It argues that, against the low expectations of some critics in many countries the case evidence is plentiful that social enterprise work compares favorably with the best experience in the state and private sector.

PART 1 - Conceptual Challenges 1. Placing the social economy - Ash Amin 2. Social economy: Engaging in a Third System - John Pearce PART 2 - International Evidence 3. Does it make a difference working for social cooperatives in Italy? - Carlo Borzaga 4. Community economies in Massachusetts - Julie Graham and Janelle Cornwell 5. Growth Dilemmas in social enterprises in Australia - Jenny Cameron 6. Ethical challenges and diverse pathways in the Philippines - Katherine Gibson and Community Economies Collective 7. Ethnographies of worker-run enterprises in Argentina - Jose Luis Coraggio PART 3 - Institutional Imperatives 8. Building the socidarity economy in South Brazil - Noelle Lechat 9. The three pillars of the social economy in Quebec - Marguerite Mendell 10. Building the social economy in Poland - Jerzy Hausner 11. Europe: what kind of public policy for what kind of social economy? - Jean-Louis Laville