Social enterprises in Catalonia: Paradigmatic change or middle-class strategy?

Abstract

The financial crisis that began in Spain in 2008 has had a profound economic impact on the civil population, particularly among the middle classes. The government, instead of encouraging savings, has carried out a policy of cuts and public immobility. As a result of rising unemployment, the weakening of the welfare state, the increase of poverty and the widespread discontent of the excesses of capitalism, there emerged a wide range of social economies to enable basic access to goods and services and a considerable emergence of social companies. An analysis of these initiatives reveals, however, two important aspects: fi rst, that many of these initiatives are ‘self-referential’ (i.e. generated by and designed for the middle class) and, second, that such alternatives are often designed for selfemployment. In any case, these movements are related to other groups dissatisfi ed with the current policy, which is leading to a greater political tendency to left-wing policies.

Keywords: emerging social movements, late capitalism, economic crisis, economic anthropology, social economy.