Can community development banks in Brazil be considered as democratic and solidarity-based commons?

A growing literature (Leal and Almeida, 2016; Meyer, 2012; Saiag, 2015; Servet, 2015) argues that money and finance should (and could) be considered as commons in the sense of Elinor Ostrom (2010), in configurations where... [ view full abstract ]

A growing literature (Leal and Almeida, 2016; Meyer, 2012; Saiag, 2015; Servet, 2015) argues that money and finance should (and could) be considered as commons in the sense of Elinor Ostrom (2010), in configurations where principles of householding and reciprocity dominate those of redistribution and market. These analyses draw on empirical illustrations such as social currencies and solidarity finance, especially the experience of community development banks (CDB) which has grown since the early 2000s in Brazil.

Within this literature, the quality of social relations is considered as a means and an end in itself. Key questions include the sustainability, but also the democratic and solidarity dimensions of the management of money and finance (França Filho, 2013). Going further into the analysis requires to locate the potential (and the limits) of these initiatives within local contexts, and this is what this paper intends to do. On the one hand, the perceptions, attitudes, and values of local populations are not always favourable to ideals of democracy and solidarity (and to the requirements of their implementation). On the other hand, social, economic and political structures are often hostile to their functioning and their sustainability over time.

This paper is based on a Franco-Brazilian project focusing on the “Financiarisation of domestic economies” and a cooperation between the technology incubator for the solidarity economy from the Federal University of Bahia and the Institute of Research for Development (France). We draw on the experience of the incubator, qualitative field work (interviews, observation) and secondary data from three CDB from north east Brazil: the founding experience of Banco Palmas, in a suburb of Fortaleza (Ceara State); Banco Ilhamar and the community-based association of Matarandiba, a fishing community from Itaparica Island (Bahia state), and Banco Olhos d'Agua in the rural municipality of Igaci (Alagoas state). The paper analyses these experiences through a model of “democratic and solidarity community” embedded into local territories and social, economic and political relations of various dimensions (democratic and solidarity-based or not) and at various levels. We argue that CDB face permanent tension between the principles of reciprocity and householding on the one hand, and the principles of market and redistribution on the other. This tension expresses conflicts with the dominant values of the capitalist system, local clientelistic policies and top-down public policies. But it also expresses resistance and reluctance from local populations, who are not necessarily willing or able to contribute to the management of a common.

From an epistemological perspective, we highlight the need for a double perspective, attentive both to the potentialities and possibilities of these initiatives, their singularity and their strengths, but also to the tensions and ambiguities they constantly face, and the ambivalence of each economic principle. The comparative analysis of the three case studies allows us to suggest various conditions and modalities that permit the construction of money and finance as commons in a democratic and solidarity-driven way.

References

França Filho, Carvahlo Genauto. 2013. Bancos Comunitários de Desenvolvimento (BCD's) como expressão de finanças solidárias: por uma outra abordagem da inclusão financiera, Fortaleza, Arte Visual.

Leal, Leonardo Prates, and Suzanny Carla Santos Almeida. 2016. « Incubação de Iniciativas de Finanças Solidárias: Perspectivas da Gestão Coletiva dos Bens Comuns no Banco Comunitário Olhos D’água em Igaci, Alagoas », Revista NAU Social, 7: 143-62.

Meyer, Camille. 2012. Les finances solidaires comme biens communs durables: étude de cas de la Banque communautaire de développement Palmas (Brésil), Bruxelles, Université Libre de Bruxelles.

Ostrom, Elinor. 2010. Gouvernance des biens communs. Pour une nouvelle approche des ressources naturelles (De Boeck: Louvain-la-neuve).

Polanyi, Karl. 1983 [1944]. La Grande Transformation. Aux origines politiques et économiques de notre temps, Paris, Gallimard.

Saiag, Hadrien. 2015. Monnaies locales et économie populaire en Argentine, Paris, Karthala.

Servet, Jean-Michel. 2015. La vraie Révolution du microcrédit, Paris, Odile Jacob.