Abstract
We examine how social and solidarity economy organizations (SSEOs) generate value for female participants and their community. Our theoretical framework pairs a social utility framework with the capability approach, integrating the perspective of feminist economists to capture value of various types. SSEOs can adopt dimensions of social utility in their activities, including solidarity, identity, sustainable economic development, citizenship, and self-governance. Our study connects these dimensions with value, framed by the capability approach. Findings rely on interviews with participants of Projeto ELAS, a program that promotes socio-productive inclusion of low-income mothers. Participants strengthened their ability to aspire, engage with their community, persevere, feel self-efficacious, and be financially sustained through a process of social interaction, positive identity, and financial growth. Our findings highlight the importance of relational processes within SSEOs and open avenues for research that uses a social utility framework to analyze social value and territorial impact by SSEOs.
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Acknowledgements
We would like to thank the participants of Projeto ELAS in this study, who willingly donated their time and opened their lives to us. We thank Instituto Banco Palmas (Brazil) for providing a great deal of support in the form of accommodations, logistical planning, and data, without which this study would not have been possible. We thank the Laboratório Interdisciplinar de Estudos em Gestão Social (LIEGS) at the Universidade Federal do Cariri (UFCA, Brazil) for providing research support and accommodation. We thank the Fulbright Commission of Brazil for providing funding and logistical support throughout this study’s duration.
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Katherine R. Cheng gratefully acknowledges financial support for this research by the Fulbright U.S. Student Program, which is sponsored by the U.S. Department of State and the Fulbright Commission of Brazil. Its contents are solely the responsibility of the authors and do not necessarily represent the official views of the Fulbright Program, the Government of the United States, or the Fulbright Commission of Brazil.
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Both authors contributed to the study conception and design. The authors also defined the theoretical approaches and the methodology choices. The field data collection was performed by KRC. The research supervision was made by JTS Junior. The data analysis was conducted by both authors. The first draft of the manuscript was written by KRC and both authors wrote, reviewed, and edited the following versions of the manuscript. Both authors read and approved the submitted version of the manuscript.
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Cheng, K.R., Silva Junior, J.T. The Role of Solidarity in Women’s Empowerment: Narratives from Northeast Brazil. Voluntas 34, 911–921 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-022-00539-7
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s11266-022-00539-7