LABOR INCLUSION STRATEGIES OF THE “LOCOOPERATIVA” WORK COMMUNITY: LABORATORY OF SOCIAL CITIZENSHIP IN MENTAL HEALTH

Abstract

This article aims to understand the role of the cooperative model in the field of mental health as an alternative for labor participation, access to economic assets and the exercise of citizenship. To do this, it analyzes the approaches of cooperativism, associativity and self-management in the world of work, in contrast to the dominant values and practices of the capitalist system. The labor inclusion strategies of the “Locooperativa” work community, a solidarity enterprise made up of people with experience in mental health care and professionals from the social sciences of Santiago, Chile. In this initiative, the practices of productive self-management and the values that are present in their forms of association involve a reaffirmation of citizenship against the coordinates of competitive labor market that erase differences and nullify diversity. Finally, it is proposed that cooperative work is constituted as a creative bet that articulates collective capacities and individual singularities in contemporary society.