The winners of the Social and Solidarity Economy (SSE) Book Prize were announced at the Paris Expo Porte de Versailles last month.
Aimed at French writers and now in their ninth year, the prize had two categories – reflection and testimonials – and both winners came from the Monde en transitions collection published by Les petits matins.
The prize for reflection went to Un “notre monde” est possible (An “our world” is possible) by Sébastien Chaillou-Gillette, Stéphane Pfeiffer.
Testimonials was won by Être radical – Dialogue entre deux générations pour transformer l’économie (Be radical – Dialogue between two generations to transform the economy) by Bastien Sibille and Hugues Sibille).
The awards were presented by Roger Belot, president of the prize jury, and Patrick Gobert, president of Toit citoyen, a club of members of staff representative bodies known as social and economic committees.
“The books elected this year question the future of our world and the role that the SSE will play in it,” said Belot. “The authors do not doubt it and show their commitment. An “our world” is possible offers concrete actions to invite each citizen to become an actor in the economy. In response, Bastien and Hugues Sibille discuss their past and current experiences. The jury found its own questions there.”
Gobert added: “The jury wanted to emphasise the value of the works selected for the diversity of approaches to the SSE in the books of experts and in the testimonials that are both committed and clearly show the variety of backgrounds and experiences. All have the values of the SSE in common: working together, civic engagement, personal accomplishment.”
An “our world” is possible explores how citizens can make their voices heard and influence decisions through economic citizenship, by reclaiming economic and social issues, rather than acting as easily influenced consumers. It uses examples from the social and solidarity economy in various fields (education, work or corporate governance) to offers concrete courses of action for both individual and collectives on the premise that “the economy must become everyone’s business”.
Be radical – Dialogue between two generations to transform the economy is an intergenerational dialogue between 42-year-old son, and his 70-year-old father, both of whom are leaders in SSE enterprises. The book explores how the two generations have sought to change the world while revealing the two writers’ views on the SSE. The father shares his experience as someone who was involved in promoting democracy in the workplace while the son reveals his involvement in the movement for the management of the commons.
The authors of both books are actively involved in the sector: Sébastien Chaillou-Gillette is director of the regional chamber of the ESS (Cress) Île-de-France and former president of the International Cooperative Alliance’s Youth Network; Stéphane Pfeiffer is second deputy mayor of Bordeaux where he is leading on SSE initiatives; Hugues Sibille is president of the Labo de l’ESS, an SSE think-tank, former vice-president of Crédit cooperative and former interministerial delegate for the social economy; and Bastien Sibille is president of the Mobicoop as well as Licoornes, an alliance of co-ops for ecological and solidarity transition.
The books can be pre-ordered via the LesPetitMatins website.
