New frontiers in economic space. Social economy and alternative economies

Abstract

Based on the format of the work of Andrew Barry and Mark Maslin, this article aims to reflect on the capacity of the social economy and alternative economies to generate collective impacts on the territory in the second decade of the twenty-first century. Analytical reflection is based on various theories of the emergence of new forms of economic activity and their relationship with the territory, and assumes that territorial conditions are always unequal, as has been documented in economic geography. Therefore, from path dependence and the theory of the sociotechnical transition new questions are discussed and formulated on the strong links of the social and territorial components of both concepts. The idea that past decisions condition the decisions we can make today and that current or future states, actions, or decisions depend on the path that previous events have taken is postulated as a critical explanation of the formation of different solutions and economic spaces. Socio-technical transition as a conceptual tool is proposed for understanding the process of transition (ecological, energy, food, among others) to a sustainable economic and social model.