SoEco4Dev · Social Economy Enterprises for Development and Democracy

Eroding liberal economic model and democracy require novel approaches to development cooperation. The new research agenda emphasises the need for more research on the interactions between the nation-states' policies and organisational models. SoEco4Dev aims at responding to these policy and theoretical debates by providing an original and innovative approach and multilevel perspective to understanding the role of the local bottom-up institutions to uphold democratisation and development in post-communist countries. The objective of SoEco4Dev is to analyse how the emerging phenomenon of Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) organisations drive social innovations and change in three distinct dimensions of SSE: entrepreneurial culture (economic dimension), solidarity bonds (social dimension) and democracy promotion (governance dimension). The research focuses on the nascent entrepreneurial forms of SSE social enterprises (SE) in two post-Soviet republics, Georgia and Kyrgyzstan that continually strive to develop and democratise their societies. SoEco4Dev project is marked out by its ambitious and interdisciplinary nature that contrasts nation-state and organisational levels, and carefully integrates research and policy, local and global perspectives. The project is underpinned by an innovative and robust methodological approach that aims at constructing a well-grounded theory of SSEs internationalisation in under-explored country contexts. The project is particularly timely in the context of conflicts and increasing inequalities as it aims at gaining an in-depth understanding of the new forms of social organising and their capacity to complement the traditional local development actors, such as civil society organisations and the private sector. SoEco4Dev also aims at the career development of the researcher, broadening her research areas and improving her qualitative research and publication skills to obtain a permanent teaching and research position in the EU.