Economía solidaria en el Ecuador: institucionalización y tipos de organizaciones

On the basis of a review of the existing literature on popular and solidarity economy aswell as an empirical study including structured and semi-structured interviews and participant observation, the aim of the article is twofold. First, we present the four institutionalpaths that led to the political and legal recognition of solidarity economy (SE) and itsenrollment in public policies in Ecuador. Second, we suggest a typology of SE initiativesthat arises from those four institutional paths. In the light of the ideal-type proposed byEMES and the work of Coraggio et al. (2015), we identify the main distinctive features ofthe four models, regarding their legal forms, type of mission, governance structure, andresources, among other criteria. These models are then illustrated in different fields ofactivity, both established and emerging ones, in the Ecuadorian landscape. Keywords : solidarity economy, typology, institutionalization, historical paths.