For a Solidarity Economy

An important anniversary!

On 18 October 1995, the document Pour l’économie solidaire (For Solidarity Economy) was published in the French national daily newspaper Le Monde.

On the morning of October 18, I was in France on a France-Quebec collaboration mission in the field of employment. Before boarding the train (or the metro), I bought the edition of the day. I had a very pleasant surprise when I saw this article.

For me, it was the first time I read a text on the solidarity economy. When I read it, I understood that it corresponded to my vision, and that of many other actors I knew, in Quebec and in France. I knew some of the individuals or organizations that signed endorsed the document..

This is most likely the first time that the solidarity economy as a concept has been published in a major national daily, whether in France or elsewhere.

As it is a very important document that marks the origins of the solidarity economy, which part of the Social and Solidarity Economy movement supports, it is relevant to republish this text, with a translation into English and Spanish.

Since the copy I had was from a microfilm (I had lost the original copy), this version is transcribed in document format for translation, excerpts, etc.

Yvon Poirier

RIPESS