Women Workers’ Initiatives in the Field of the Social and Solidarity as a Space for Transforming the Domestic Care System: Potential and Challenges in the Ibero-American Sphere

Abstract

A just socio-ecological transition calls for a transformation of the care system that ensures the sustainability of human life. This process involves recognising and revaluing unpaid care work it also means improving working conditions in this sector, characterised by the overwhelming contribution of women, including many migrant women, in global care chains. This paper analyses the opportunities and limitations of the social and solidarity economy in this transformation. Using the multi-level perspective on change as a framework and a methodology that combines an innovative collaborative workshop with 54 stakeholders in the Spanish context with interviews with leaders of care cooperatives in Honduras, Uruguay and Spain, transformative strategies for revaluing these essential services and addressing the structural challenges they face are identified.

Keywords

• care system, social and solidarity economy, multi-level perspective, transformative innovation, gender