Social Economy Rising in the Corona Crisis

Abstract

The Corona crisis today has made it possible to realise that the capitalist system has transformed human life and the entire planet into a commodity. The new ecological consciousness, which has risen with environmental destruction, is against the destructive and wasteful practices that exploit nature because of the attitudes and values associated with the capitalist worldview. Social solidarity and active participation in the society nourish the social economy. Social solidarity contains a meaning that ‘people in wealth give, people in need take’ style. This approach has shown to be an effective and common solidarity example both in Turkey also in the world during the Corona crisis. Social solidarity actually involves sharing resources equally or fairly. The corona epidemic has clearly demonstrated that an individualistic, self-interested approach of capitalism is not a life-saving strategy, but a socialist, solidarist approach, an approach that promotes the survival and health of the other is a life-saving strategy for all. A new cosmological and anthropological approach will be the formula of salvation, based on a social economy system in the post-corona world, which can see that life in nature, including humans, is protected through cooperation, mutual care and love. Capitalism will again come out of this crisis by adding billionaires to its billionaires, but different civilisations such as workers, producers and consumer cooperatives, solidarity networks, and street economy that grow in the heart of capitalism are the signs that we are progressing towards the evolution of the social economy.

Citation

Elbeyoğlu, K. (2021), "Social Economy Rising in the Corona Crisis", Grima, S., Sirkeci, O. and Elbeyoğlu, K. (Ed.) A New Social Street Economy: An Effect of The COVID-19 Pandemic (Contemporary Studies in Economic and Financial Analysis, Vol. 107), Emerald Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 35-44. https://doi.org/10.1108/S1569-375920210000107009