Portuguese Social and Solidarity Economy’s ‘Substantive Meaning:’ Constructing an Alternative Path to European Cohesion

After the 2008 Global Financial Crisis (G.F.C.), the conditions that are tearing the European Union (E.U.)’s amalgamating mission apart resurface. The focus of this paper is one E.U. member, Portugal, a country that experiences a sovereign debt crisis in 2009. To confront a plethora of issues, Portugal’s marginalized sectors develop initiatives that revolve around the Social and Solidarity Economy (S.S.E.). The Portuguese S.S.E. represents an ideological manifestation and a pragmatic initiative to re-contextualize the E.U.’s economy that ameliorates inequality and democratizes the economy, igniting participatory democracy. On the one hand, the Social Economy promotes initiatives based on a value system that prioritizes people over profits. On the other, the Solidarity Economy incorporates a non-market vision to production, consumption, and distribution. Portugal is contributing to S.S.E.’s robust existence in the E.U. It constitutes a sector that enhances reciprocity, participatory democracy, and associationism at the community level.