La « propriété sociale » : un concept clé pour élaborer une théorie de l’ESS ?

Often discussed and a pretext for many debates, the question of an elaboration of a ?theory of Social Economy? is more than ever important to assure the recognition and the legitimacy of this ?other economy?. From this perspective, it seems useful to rediscover the concept of social property which was created at the end of the end of the 19th century to promote a society of peers and to justify the availability of goods and collective services to the non-owners. In a context, where the action of the members of the civil society has become as important as the action of the public services in the organization of solidarity and social welfare, this concept enables to suggest a new criteria to define social economy, which has been historically built on the ambition of preserving in the collective psyche the image of a republic based on social justice.