engleski

The Price of Doing Good: An Ethnographic Account of Solidarity Economy Organizations and Initiatives in Croatia

Based upon interviews and ethnographic research performed in 2020 and 2021 in several parts of Croatia, this paper examines the motivation behind the foundation of several solidarity economy initiatives and organizations as well as tactics and strategies employed to achieve their sustainability. Starting from certain aspects of initiators’ and/or founders’ biographies, this study focuses on initial and continuous support obtained from friends and family members as well as fellows in the field of solidarity economy, the ways in which work practices are organized, adapted, and sustained, and what sort of balance between the entrepreneurial and the social is aspired to and achieved. Ethnographic insights suggest that setting up a sustainable organization within the domain of solidarity economy in Croatia is an arduous task that more often than not requires renouncing one’s material security, while at the same exhibiting potential for abundant personal gratification. Interviewees included in this study indicate that exploring and experiencing the range of possibilities – such as working within a carefully crafted and caring community, diminished hierarchies between manual and intellectual labor, interspersing dull with creative tasks, or achieving immediate and positive changes – fuels perseverance and builds grit. At the same time, finding sense and place within the broader social and economic framework remains troublesome, which opens questions about the solidarity economy’s role in the “’interstices’ of decaying order” (Wright).

solidarity economy, sacrifice/gratification, organization of work

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