Abstract
Social solidarity economy (SSE) concept has gained attention in Japanese civil society these days. Concerning the introduction of SSE concept to Japan, there are some contexts as follows. (1) Looking for alternative economies in the anti-globalism movement, (2) the emergence of community co-operatives, (3) the orientation of "re-mutualization" against "de-mutualization" of Japanese mainstream co-operatives, (4) building inclusive local economy to tackle with social exclusion and poverty problems, (5) the differentiation from the neoliberal thought of social enterprise. When we consider SSE concept from perspective of Karl Polanyi’s economic theory, we can understand (1) SSE mainly develops in the fields of fictitious commodities, (2) SSE needs transparent democratic governance, (3) SSE needs to pursue public interests rather than closed economic interests.
