International conferences on the plural economy
The international conferences of the plural economy are born from a conviction: a new era demands a new economy. A just ecological transition needs an economy that does not hide what sustains our life: mutual support, social reproduction, ecosystem cycles, reciprocity, etc.
There is a long-standing tendency to understand the economy as a compact block of market relations that enable us to access goods and services. The prevailing narrative shows the economy as a homogeneous market guided by supply and demand and driven by the exchange of monetary or financial capital. Beneath this appearance hides a very different reality. The economy does not only include a monetary sphere, but a whole set of relationships and forms of organization to cover needs that overflow this mercantile circuit. In fact, they far exceed it.
In Catalonia, unpaid domestic work hours are almost twice as many as paid hours. Ecosystem services are estimated to account for 250% of global GDP. We must consign GDP to the dustbin of history. We need to promote and value economies based on redistribution, mutual support and proximity. This ideology according to which the capitalist market is the only space for regulation of social life and profit is the only engine of growth is destroying life on the planet. Resource appropriation and labor exploitation are left out of the spreadsheets.
We need to promote policies, regulations and metrics for economies based on use value. The economy needs to be refounded based on concrete practices and policies that aspire to a fairer world. We need a public, cooperative and community alliance. The public counterpart can guarantee the general interest and universality; the cooperative field can strengthen economic democracy and the participation of working people; and organized communities embody citizen participation and social control of the economy.
These conferences want to be a space to gather all this power and answer questions such as: what are plural economies and what are their challenges and dilemmas? What are and how do the public policies that promote public-cooperative-community alliances work? How to measure its impact? What are they and how to intervene in the strategic areas for an ecosocial transition?
We will do it with entities and experiences from Catalonia, the Basque Country, the USA, Canada, the United Kingdom, Latin America. To show what we are doing and learn from what is being done elsewhere.
The Observatory and the circles of Coòpolis have been working on some days that we consider very relevant. We look forward to seeing you on October 23 and 24 at Bloc4BCN in Barcelona. We will post more information with the full schedule soon.
