Economia Solidária e Política Pública

Avanços e desafios da institucionalização no município de São Carlos/SP

Abstract

In the late 1990s, the Solidary Economy started to integrate initiatives of municipal governments to generate work and income in Brazil. Thus, this article has the purpose
to reflect the process of institutionalization of public policy of Solidary Economy in São Carlos city, São Paulo state. Different forms of institutionalization are addressed: the
implantation of the Solidary Economy Public Center; the Municipal Law of Solidary Economy (which institutionalizes the Solidary Economy Support Program); the Municipal Council and Solidary Economy Fund; public spaces for commercialization and provision of services by Solidary Economy Enterprises (SEE) to the municipality. One of the guidelines of that public policy was to strengthen the organization of the Solidary Economy movement, considering that the participation of the beneficiaries of this policy in the discussions and decisions is essential for the construction of the Solidary Economy as a development strategy. This process, which respects the diversity and people’s reality, dialogue and effective collective participation, represented a differential in the form of management and provide meeting the SEE demands, ensuring more effectiveness in public policies. The need of transferring the focus on public managers, responsible for the support, to the workers, was the challenge. In São Carlos, two factors were preponderant to progress in overcoming this challenge: the mobilization of concrete commercialization actions (generation of income) and the organization of Solidary Economy workers as a social movement.