The role of the solidarity economy in the development of society (on the example of Asian countries)

Abstract

Social and solidarity economy (hereinafter referred to as SSE) is traditionally defined by forms of economic organization that have goals for economic activity and income extraction, oriented to the needs of society and managed on the basis of democratic principles. The structures of the SSE reproduce the relations of mutual assistance, solidarity, cooperation, equality and collectivism. The article considers the models of social and solidarity economy of four Asian countries - Japan, China, Malaysia and South Korea. The purpose of the study was to identify the historical and cultural features of the genesis and development of solidarity forms of the economy in these countries. An important characteristic of the enterprises of the Asian solidarity economy is their conditionality with traditional worldview doctrines and power ideas closely related to those. At the same time, the article emphasizes that paternalism in relation to the SE often leads to the loss of its autonomy by its subjects and the deprivation of the principles of direct democracy. Based on the analysis of empirical data, the authors compiled a table – diagram of the economic entities of the Asian SSE, reflecting the essential qualities, which made it possible to visualize their distinctive features from the enterprises of the commercial sector. The formation of the SE, according to the authors, is complicated by the lack of legislative, organizational, statistical, financial, and informational support for this sector of the public economy, which creates unjustified difficulties and risks of the form of economic organization demanded by societies. The materials of the International Labour Organization (ILO), which contain the formulation of the problem of theoretical understanding of the phenomenon of the solidary economy, provided significant assistance in conceptualizing the SSE.

Keywords

• social solidarity economy
• essential qualities and forms of organization
• consumer cooperatives
• asian miracle
• family farms