Methodology and organization

The Summer School consists of a diverse set of activities, namely: 1) expositive sessions with specialists from different countries; 2) discussion panels; 3) visits to different Solidarity Economy initiatives in Lisbon; 4) working meetings with specialists (for PhD students); 5) cultural and social activities.

The sessions are organized in order to allow a Solidarity Economy approach based on different thematic perspectives - theoretical-conceptual, democratic participation, social innovation, institutional recognition, governance - and based on different national experiences (France, Spain, Portugal and Denmark) in a broad Europe-wide and world-wide view (including the particular case of Brazil).

At the end of the course, students will be better able to:

- critically analyze the institutional recognition deficit of the Solidarity Economy in Europe;

- to be aware of the need for a theoretical and epistemological enlargement of the concept of Economy, in order to cover other substantive issues;

- identify theoretical contributions for an enrichment of the field of studies of Solidary Economy (like the feminist theories, the studies on the family economy, the institutionalist theories, the economy of the common goods, etc);

- reinforce the discussion about the non-economic dimensions of the Solidarity Economy, showing their relevance in the construction of the autonomy of the subjects and of the collectives to which they belong.

- reflect on innumerable urban and rural experiences that do not fit into the categories of Social Economy nor into those usually known in the Solidarity Economy, creating space for new typologies.

Targeted audience: researchers, post-graduate students and Solidarity Economy activists.

Duration: 40 hours

Language: The main language of the Summer School will be English, but it is admitted that participants may speak also in Spanish, French or Portuguese.

General Coordination: Pedro Hespanha (CES) and Luciane Lucas dos  Santos (CES)

Scientific Committee: Aline Mendonça dos Santos (Catholic University of Pelotas, Brazil), Giovanni Allegretti (CES), Jean-Louis Laville (Collège d’Études Mondiales/CNAM), Jordi Estivil (Universidade de Barcelona), Lars Hulgård (EMES), Lina Coelho (CES/FEUC), Luciane Lucas dos Santos (CES), Pedro Hespanha(CES/FEUC), Rogério Roque Amaro (ISCTE), Sílvia Ferreira (CES/FEUC), Teresa Cunha (CES).

Executive Coordination: Andrés Spognardi (CES) and Eber Hernandez (ECOSOL-CES)

Organization: Study Group on Solidarity Economy (ECOSOL/CES), Research Group for Studies on Social Policies, Labor and Inequalities (POSTRADE) and Research Group for Studies on Democracy, Citizenship, and Law (DECIDe), both integrated into the Center for Social Studies of the University of Coimbra

Institutional Partners:  This Summer School is the product of a partnership between Ecosol/CES and different institutions: ISCTE-IUL (Lisbon), EMES - International Research Network, RIPESS - Solidarity Economy Europe, Collège d'Etudes Mondiales of Paris,  the Rede Portuguesa de Economia Solidária (RedPES) and Associação Centro de Estudos de Economia Solidária do Atlântico (ACEESA).