3. The Social Economy in Quebec: Towards a New Political Economy

Abstract

(CURA) in Quebec (www.aruc-es.uqam.ca) and the Chantier de l'économie sociale. www.chantier.qc.ca.

From Grameen Bank Micro-credit to Social Business to Social Economy-detail Proposal: A Case Study: Compare and Contrast Bangladesh and Canada

“…[18].These MFI organizations/projects have both a social agenda and require economic performance. Yunus (2010) [1,24,25].The researcher has observed that many of the rich, business people and people working abroad in the Middle East, North America and other countries are trying to establish social business in Bangladesh for the wellbeing of their communities. They give donations to people, build mosques, orphan centers etc.…”

“…(2010) is an example of a research paper that has documented different concepts of social economy and different types of social economic organizations and their diverse funding models, legal structures, functional frameworks and operational strategies, and challenges they face in the Canadian context [1][2][3]. In Bangladesh, different social economic organizations and models, funding models and frameworks exist, but there is no one place where this information can be found.…”

An Interactive View of the Social Economy

“…Again, this value is prevalent in the private sector, and since the 1990s, it has been embraced in government and CED circles, and arguably in the social economy more widely. For example, le Chantier de l'économie sociale in Québec has encouraged the development of organizations that earn their revenues from the marketplace (Mendell & Neamtan, 2010).…”

“…For some, the social economy is viewed as a social movement that challenges the prevalent view of business (Mendell & Neamtan, 2010) and even envision an alternative economic paradigm for society as a whole (Quarter, 1992;Shragge & Fontan, 2000). Although there are organizations in the social economy that undertake that function, it seems overly simplistic to argue that only those organizations that challenge social norms are part of the social economy.…”

“…Québec's approach to the social economy, as articulated through the apex organization le Chantier de l'économie sociale, is an attempt to create a movement based upon economic democracy (Mendell, 2010;Mendell & Neamtan, 2010), but is also one that relies heavily upon governments for its sustainability (Favreau, 2006). Without a movement built upon a base of community networks, government support would be less likely; however, without government support, the movement would wither.…”