By Josette Combes
In this newsletter of September October, you will find a wide range of articles whose diversity reflects multiple focal lengths the network adopted to advance knowledge and the implementation of the solidarity economy in Europe and in the world. At the global level, RIPESS participated in August at the World Social Forum, then in September at the Global Social Economy Forum. Both events were held in Montreal and it is also in this town that held the annual meeting of the Board of Directors of the RIPESS Intercontinental network. The RIPESS Int. participated actively in the session on SSE at the United Nations in New York and advocated for the urgency to change the economic paradigm
As done frequently in the last two years, RIPESS Europe held its last Coordinating Committee meeting with one of its members. In September, it was in Hungary, where Kifesz greeted us in Budapest and we had arranged a visit to the meeting of some of the initiatives developed in the territory. Note that actors in SSE in the countries of Easter Europe must make it clear that non-state, workers based cooperatives have nothing to do with the State co-ops, which are not well perceived since the fall of the wall.
In July, RIPESS members had participated in the Social Movements International Summer University, continuing through one of the objectives of the action plan, namely the convergence effort.
Greece, as we know, continues to face very difficult economic and social situations, while being a country where many refugees are coming from the countries of the Middle East, fleeing from the war and the deterioration of their living conditions (see the article on the Refugee to Refugee Call Center). Networking and intercooperation between members in the different countries is one of the objectives of the network. Soli-Oli experience presented by Georgia Bekridakii warrants that we need this approach to be more and more developed.
There are also good advanced on the side of food sovereignty and Habitat III. We can try to be optimistic, if you look at what is happening on the side of the transition movement both in the number of successful initiatives devoted to the “citizen transition” in France and even in Switzerland and Luxembourg.
On the other hand, orthodox economists just published in France two relatively offensive books against professing heterodox, critical economists, who question the power of economics practiced by the Chicago school and its accomplices and the arrogance of these “thought leaders”.
It is more important than ever to develop our solidarity to allow the various forms of struggles and alternatives to be seen, including to the rise of and danger of extreme right now in Europe.
Josette Combes
