"As people across the United States face massive cuts to Medicaid, SNAP and other vital programs, many are asking: What happens when the systems we rely on fail us? And what happens when our communities are torn apart by toxic inequality, political fragmentation and declining social trust? The solution may lie in something that humans have been doing throughout our existence: taking care of each other, often without realizing it. Today that's what some of us call the "solidarity economy.""
"I first heard the term in late 2008, and I wasn't impressed. I believe the term I used might have been something like "boutique-y." Those were different times. After the George W. Bush era ended, the idea of painstakingly building positive local economic alternatives to exploitative systems seemed far less promising than the direct route of pushing for massive changes in public policies."
Widespread cuts to programs like Medicaid and SNAP reveal how fragile reliance on formal systems can be and how social trust and community cohesion are eroding. Building local, cooperative economic alternatives and mutual aid can help meet basic needs and sustain relationships when policy gains are reversed. Early skepticism about small-scale efforts gave way to recognition that policy windows are often closed, so complementary grassroots experiments matter. Combining policy change efforts with intentional development of solidarity-based practices increases resilience, creates new forms of economic relation, and reduces dependence on vulnerable institutional supports.
Read at Non Profit News | Nonprofit Quarterly
Unable to calculate read time
Collection
[
|
...
]