The Neo-Social Economy

The "Social Economy" expression was first used by the XIX th century economists in a time when the cooperative movement started to develop in Europe. Today, it is defined as a sum of Social Enterprises whose primary goal is a social one. Some questions arise: Is the meaning of The Social Economy term we use today the same with the one employed two centuries ago or we are actually promoting a Neo-Social Economy having different rules and characteristics? Was the Social Economy limited, since its birth, to a sum of organizations or it was born as a larger concept whose principles inspired certain types of enterprises without being exhausted by them. Which are the features that make The Social Economy efficient in fighting poverty and social exclusion today? The present work will try to answer these questions inviting the reader to a short journey back in time, when thinkers such as Charles Dunoyer, Frederic Le Play, John Stuart Mill, Leon Walras, Robert Owen, Charles Fourier were also looking for answers.