The social utility of solidarity finance: brazilian community development banks in perspective[Utilidade social das finanças solidárias: os bancos comunitários brasileiros em perspectiva]

This article aims to present and analyze the experience of the brazilian Community Development Banks (CDB), social enterprises in the field of solidarity finance, which have been assuming a role as promoters of socio-territorial cohesion and of improvements in local urban living conditions, by articulating - simultaneously - production, consumption, commercialization and financing in the territories where they are established. There are more than 140 CDB experiences in Brazil. The article demonstrates that the social utility of the CDB must be elevated in relation to their economic viability, and exposes how the CDB strategy of coordination between local communities and public authorities has achieved solutions for the management and cohesion of the territories, inaugurating an outstanding institutional arrangement in socioeconomically vulnerable territories. The analysis suggests that the CDB are social enterprises carrying innovation in the execution of public policies for the endogenous development of territories in Brazil.