The meaning of work for people involved in solidarity enterprises is provided through a case study of general services cooperative. Research was developed by semi-structured interviews and field diary, and resulting information analyzed from the perspective of content analysis. Results point towards labor as a means of social acknowledgement or devaluation and as a means of subsistence assumed with other coop people. Meanings of labor are thus related to denotations of cooperativism, with large influence on self-management in entrepreneurship. Solidary economy itself, with its possibilities and limitations in the promotion of social emancipation and work de-alienation, is discussed.
Solidary economy; meaning of work; social emancipation