FRANCE: The solidarity economy claims for recognition and money

While the traditional social economy is acheiving good results in terms of economic activities, the solidarity micro-initiatives stemming at the local level are struggling for survival. This is the French situation as it has stood for quite a long time already. Without the support of massive public capital, the « économie solidaire » has not yet found the road to be financially sustainable. Today, the idea of a manifesto and a public forum, launched by a group of activists, is an attempt to focus the issue on the necessity to develop a new economy based on a common interest. The message could be summarized as: profit must be global and not exclusively through globalization. Such a message, formulated in ten concrete proposals, might influence the next presidential climate campaign because French citizens still have doubts on the benefits of the capitalist economy, say recent surveys carried out by foreign experts. The event planned for this fall is designed also to counteract what is seen to be a very atomistic culture and the manifesto clearly indicates why it is worth acting together from now to the 7th december 2006. www.sinvestir.org