On October 12th, 2020, Waseda University’s Global Asia Research Center hosted the second online seminar in the series of “COVID-19 and Socio-ecological Transition”, coordinated by Dr. Yoshihiro Nakano and Prof. Shukuko Koyama. In this seminar, Prof. Jean-Louis (Professor of Economic Sociology, Conservatoire national des arts et métiers (CNAM), France) shared comprehensively about the vision and strategies of concrete alternatives for the post-COVID-19 world, focusing on the commons and solidarity economy. As a well-known researcher in the field of the Solidarity Economy in Europe, his presentation attracted active participation and discussions across national borders.

In the beginning, Prof. Jean-Louis mentioned some simple facts of dysfunctional elements in our daily life, such as increasing social inequality and an ecological crisis, especially climate change. Then, he addressed the questions on how to resolve those problems empirically and conceptually by associating with socio-economic transformation.

After that, he mentioned important terminologies and phenomena to understand the Solidarity Economy. The approaches of the Social Solidarity Economy are evolving. The Solidarity Economy aims to change politics and reinvent a public sphere within the economy. Then, he introduced and characterized three stages of Initiative beyond market and state: 1) Third Sector (This stage is different from the mainstream economy and shows that market principles are not sufficient to bring economic lives and activities. Moreover, the preference has been given to the private sector. It argues that markets are shaped by informal symmetry), 2) Social Economy and Common Property Regime (They empathize collective actions. Each actor functions by rationally linking with other actors. Also, the role-playing of market and state are crucial.), 3) Solidarity Economy and New Commons (They highlight the diversity of economic principles and the plurality of politics). Prof. Jean-Louis argued that Solidarity Economy Theory distinguishes itself from Social Economy Theory by enlightening economic and political pluralities. Solidarity Economy also emphasizes collective actions not only of an organizational side but also of an institutional one, which leads to the question of Solidarity Economy’s institutional framework. In this regard, he raised two approaches to this originality. The first part is the possibility to think of the economy as an assimilated market. It gives the researchers a new lens to investigate solidarity-based organization. In this way, solidarity is not only a personal behavior but also an institutional constriction. In addition, he noted that we must consider the public dimension of initiatives, discussing how the different forms of economic principles are made through public space. As solidarity projects are very much involved with the field of socioeconomics and issues like re-distribution of food are very important for daily life, Prof. Jean-Louis further suggested that we should think about solidarity and new commons in the same way. He highlighted that solidarity and new commons are not two different research fields. The divided spheres of economy and politics can be linked through the analysis of concrete experiences. Thus, opening-up and new critical thinking can be provided in three ways: 1) solidarity economy and new commons help to revisit the history, especially about the worker movement in the late 19th century; 2) it paves the way for transitions instead of the dilemma between reform and revolution; 3) it allows us to think about the way of protection of the democratization process in this opening century. Detailed illustrations were then given regarding these three points.

Prof. Jean-Louis concluded the presentation from three aspects. Firstly, he stressed the importance of the political dimension for the initiatives to foster transformative social innovation. Secondly, he made suggestions to the public decision-makers that they should take civil society and organizations into accountability to create other forms of economies outside the market or where the market resources are balanced by non-monetary resources. Finally, he emphasized the necessity of more understanding about the emerging initiatives from the “absence” of modern society.

After the presentation, Dr. Nakano discussed the key terms and the main argument from the lecture. The essential lessons emphasized the dimension of solidarity and commons, as well as reinterpreting/re-evaluating the history of the association. A lively discussion followed. Participants brought up various questions related to the Solidarity Economy by comparing the current situations in Europe and Asia. Prof. Jean-Louis noted that the exchange of diverse viewpoints is important. Many of these theories were created in Europe and North America and applied to other continents, despite different cultural settings. In this context, case studies have to be more widely discussed. In addition, he answered the question concerning the global pandemic.