Asymmetric Solidarity: Social Capital, Hierarchy and Success in a “Solidarity Economics” Enterprise

Abstract

The purpose of this article is to analyze how the internal relations in a self-generating cooperative are structured, in order to identify the factors that permit – or block – the institution of an egalitarian model, as proposed by solidarity economics. Based on the hypothesis that inequality in terms of the distribution of social capital tends to be an important factor in establishing the hierarchy of positions occupied by participants of popular economic enterprises, it uses the analysis of social networks as a methodology to learn about the relations between the members of the cooperative studied. The significant asymmetries observed in these relationships are explained, to a large degree, by the strong concentration of social capital held by one of the women workers, who practically monopolizes the relations of the cooperative with outside agents in important institutional positions. The high stock of social capital concentrated by this worker limits the ability of the institution to have egalitarian relations among the cooperative members, while paradoxically, it constitutes an important factor for the economic success of the operation, by allowing access to resources and opportunities essential to this success.