Conference "Sustainable community movement organisations: resisting the crisis in the EU?"

Thursday, 19 March 2015

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The European Social Observatory is organising a conference related to social movement and the issues they are currently facing, notably regarding alternative forms of consumption.

In the current economic crisis, social movements are simultaneously facing two types of challenges:

First, they have to deal with institutions which are less able (or willing) to mediate new demands for social justice and equity from various sectors of society ;
Second, given the highly individualised structure of contemporary society, they are also experiencing difficulties in building bonds of solidarity and cooperation between people, bonds which are a fundamental resource for collective action.

In this context, waves of protest, which may be very relevant, are often short-lived. In this context, we detect the rise and consolidation of new mutualistic and cooperative experiences within which (similarly to the past) new ties and settings for collective action are created.

This Lunchtime Session discusses and analyses social movement organisations which focus on both the intensification of economic problems and the difficulties of rebuilding social bonds and solidarity within society. The emphasis will be on solidarity and the use of ‘alternative’ forms of consumption as a means to re-embed the economic system within social relations, starting from the local level.