NATIONAL AND SOLIDARITY ECONOMY: CONCEPTUAL SKETCH

Abstract

In the recent years, the problems of search for alternative economic models, in general, and a model of social and solidarity economy, in particular, are widely discussed in the economic literature, as well as during international conferences and social forums. The solidarity economy is based on three basic principles that have historically accompanied the exchange and the development of market relations and are as follows: market principles, when the supply of and the demand for goods and services are based on agreed prices; redistribution, which provides the delegation of powers to the central government regarding the allocation of resources; reciprocity, which corresponds to the relationship between reciprocating groups or individuals, because they express the desire to show the social relationship between the participants in the economic process. The peculiarity of the domestic alternative to the current economic system is the need for a transformation toward a national and solidarity economy on two main levels: macro- and microlevels. The national economy encompasses a holistic national economy as a system, while the solidarity one focuses on some primary sectors, links, organizations (national enterprises, cooperatives, farms, associations, unprofitable organizations, voluntary associations, etc.).