Abstract
Few people combine intellectual greatness, genuine humility and a deep coherence between what they write and do as Paul Singer. He not only reflected upon violence in the world of work, but also did it side by side with the workers themselves, shoulder to shoulder, for many years. In his own way, as one among many, listening to each one speak and considering each person as an equal. Throughout this process, he helped to build one of the most beautiful Brazilian resistance movements, an emancipatory project that sought to confront this violence: the Solidarity Economy. This interview was conducted for the project “Voices of the Solidarity Economy: narratives of resistance in the world of work”, which aims to comprehend the origins of the Brazilian Solidarity Economy from the perspective of its pioneers. In this interview, Paul Singer recalls his migration to Brazil and his post-war youth in the city of São Paulo - the period of his participation in the Zionist movement - when he was inspired to work as a teacher and decided to stay and fight for socialism in Brazil. Right after that, he talks about his relationship with the Union movement from the standpoint of a blue-collar worker, and his participation in the iconic Strike of the 300,000, in which he joined the strike’s salary committee, an experience which was quite significant for his later interest in Economics. From his militant trajectory, he highlights how he became close to Brazilian Christian socialists and to the phenomena he would later call Solidarity Economy, which, in his point of view, should be understood as an inseparable aspect of the class war.
Keywords:
Social Psychology; Social Memory; Resistance; Work; Solidarity Economy
