<div dir="ltr"><span lang="EN-US">Dear friends and colleagues,<br></span><div><span lang="EN-US"><br>For those of us based in Athens (Greece), there is a very interesting public event on Friday with Brazilian philosopher </span><span lang="EN-US"><span lang="EN-US">Euclides André Mance, who is known for connecting the <a href="https://stallman.org/solidarity-economy.html">free software world with the principles of solidarity economy</a>. I am sending you the invitation:</span><span lang="EN-US"></span> </span><div><span lang="EN-US"><br>Public event with Brazilian philosopher and popular educator, </span><span lang="EN-US">Euclides André Mance</span><span lang="EN-US">, Friday 12 June, 19.00 p.m at the Greek Archeologists Union in Athens.</span>
<p><span lang="EN-US"><em>“If for many it is only a
utopia, an ever-receding horizon of hope, for millions of others
solidarity economy is a way of working, producing, commercialising,
consuming and exchanging values. It is a way of satisfying individual
and personal needs in the interest of the welfare of all. It is the
material base of the network revolution.”</em> E.M</span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">According to the Federal
University of Pelotas, in 2014 1.5 million Brazilians are working, full
or part time, in 19,708 cooperatives of the solidarity economy. The
significant growth of solidarity economy initiatives and social
movements during the 1990s coincides with the enormous economic and
social consequences of the debt crisis that the country faced. In 2002,
Lula's government significantly strengthens employment and invests in
social policies, resulting in the weakening of solidarity economy as an
alternative way-out. Since 2010, with social inequalities persisting,
this socio-economic movement is regrouping, getting better organized and
fights not only for policy change but also for a radical design of a
new economic model.</span></p>
<p><strong><span lang="EN-US">Images from the future?</span></strong></p>
<p><strong><span lang="EN-US">On Friday 12 June, at
19:00, at the garden of the Greek Archeologists Union (Ermou 134,
Athens) we will be discussing with Euclides André Mance </span></strong><span lang="EN-US"><strong>on
the experience of Brazil and the rest of Latin America, the need to
develop cooperative networks and the economy of liberation</strong>. After the talk, we will continue with music and Brazilian cocktails.</span></p>
<p><strong><span lang="EN-US">Euclides André Mance</span></strong><span lang="EN-US">
is a Brazilian philosopher, one of the main theorists of solidarity
economy and philosophy of liberation in Latin America. He worked as
popular educator in the 90s and has authored many articles and books,
such as “The Revolution of the Networks”, in which he examines how
solidarity and cooperative networks could form connections that could
drive economy, politics and culture towards building the material base
for new, post-capitalist societies.</span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">In this latest book,
“Constellation Solidarius” (Dec 2008), Mance deals with the systemic
ruptures of capitalism and describes how we can take advantage of them
under the logic of solidarity economy.</span></p>
<p><span lang="EN-US">Since 1999 he supports the creation of solidarity networks and is a member of Brazil's <a href="http://base.d-p-h.info/pt/fiches/dph/fiche-dph-6724.html">Peoples Network of Solidarity Economy</a></span><span lang="EN-US"> and of <a href="http://www.solidarius.com.br">Solidarius</a></span><span lang="EN-US">.</span></p></div></div></div>