Reciprocity and the plural institution of markets: An approach to understand the historical role of the social and solidarity economy

Abstract

The article aims at demonstrating that one of the main historical roles of the Social and Solidarity Economy is the preservation of life systems and socioeconomic organizations distinct from the market economy. The empirical elements in favor of this thesis come from studies in various regions and continents, while their theoretical foundations are based on the seminal contributions of Karl Polanyi and Marcel Mauss, which allow us to understand how a plurality of principles determines the performance of companies and structures economic systems. It is argued that the Social and Solidarity Economy is opposed to the primacy of the principle of exchange, pillar of market societies, by activating the principle of reciprocity, upon which other processes of production and circulation of goods develop. Doing so, it gives rise to a multiplicity of markets, undoing the appearances of a single market and the belief in its inevitability.