With these essays, the writers help to put the mass of changes in the former USSR and the Eastern Bloc into a larger historical and sociological perspective by considering the social complexity which surrounds any political and economic system. Seen in this light, it is easier to understand why the surgical implants of the free market into Eastern Bloc and former Soviet countries have not been accepted.

For an increasing number of international scholars and researchers, the work of Karl Polanyi -- for example, The Great Transformation (1944) -- has been a source of inspiration in assessing current conditions and building renewed perspectives and methodologies. In detailed analyses of current socio-economic trends from all over the globe, the writers of this collection of essays -- on a variety of themes, given at the Third International Karl Polanyi conference, in Milan -- propose new concepts for economic analysis in the wake of the collapse of "communism".

As economic crises, growing inequality and climate change prompt a global debate on the meaning and trajectory of development, increasing attention is focusing on 'social and solidarity economy' as a distinctive approach to sustainable and rights-based development. While we are beginning to understand what social and solidarity economy is, what it promises and how it differs from 'business as usual', we know far less about whether it can really move beyond its fringe status in many countries and regions. Under what conditions can social and solidarity economy scale up and scale out - that is, expand in terms of the growth of social and solidarity economy organizations and enterprises, or spread horizontally within given territories? Bringing together leading researchers, blending theoretical and empirical analysis, and drawing on experiences and case studies from multiple countries and regions, this volume addresses these questions. In so doing, it aims to inform a broad constituency of development actors, including scholars, practitioners, activists and policy makers.

As economic crises, growing inequality and climate change prompt a global debate on the meaning and trajectory of development, increasing attention is focusing on 'social and solidarity economy' as a distinctive approach to sustainable and rights-based development. While we are beginning to understand what social and solidarity economy is, what it promises and how it differs from 'business as usual', we know far less about whether it can really move beyond its fringe status in many countries and regions. Under what conditions can social and solidarity economy scale up and scale out - that is, expand in terms of the growth of social and solidarity economy organizations and enterprises, or spread horizontally within given territories? Bringing together leading researchers, blending theoretical and empirical analysis, and drawing on experiences and case studies from multiple countries and regions, this volume addresses these questions. In so doing, it aims to inform a broad constituency of development actors, including scholars, practitioners, activists and policy makers.