"Social cooperatives in Greece: trends, opportunities and challenges in a demanding socio-economic context"

Almost five years after the introduction of the Greek law on social economy and social cooperative enterprises (SCEs), and despite the fact that a national strategy to empower the development of SCEs soon coupled the new legal... [ view full abstract ]

Almost five years after the introduction of the Greek law on social economy and social cooperative enterprises (SCEs), and despite the fact that a national strategy to empower the development of SCEs soon coupled the new legal framework, the relevant ecosystem seems still to be underdeveloped and rather fragmented. Moreover, while one might had thought that the socio-economic environment Greece is facing in the last years would had been ideal for the development of creative and innovative solutions to tackle unemployment and societal problems which increased during –and because of- the crisis, still SCE have not yet managed to find their role as a promising alternative into a changing productive framework and within activities to cover acute social needs that the retreat of public welfare services has created.
This paper has set to explore the critical parameters that shaped the current picture of social cooperatives in Greece and identify where the strengths and opportunities lie in their future development steps. To this end, the paper will work to put forward the necessary lessons to be learned that could be useful in enabling the social cooperative communities in Greece.