Consumo critico e nuove forme di partecipazione politica: il caso dei Gruppi di Acquisto Solidale in Italia

Increasing attention has been dedicated to social innovations and to their role that they may play in changing patterns of interactions, of behaviour and, possibly, of social progress itself. Where markets and formal institutions seem to be paralyzed in the quest for a greater redistribution of opportunities and of the outcomes of development, bottom-up pressure for change is increasing. Citizens, their choices, actions and interactions are more and more shaping the ideals and goals of development and of wellbeing. Francesca Forno's and Paolo Graziano's article investigates an Italian example of Sustainable Community Movement Organisations, the Gruppi di Acquisto Solidale - GAS (which may be translated as 'solidarity purchasing groups' or solidarity ‘purchase groups’). Their writing highlights how the combination of new forms of interaction between citizens and their coordinated action resembles a tangible demonstration of social rationality, which goes far beyond the limiting individual and egoistic rationality often embraced by socio-economic analyses. The authors outline the way in which organized groups of citizens decide to articulate their consumption and highlight how the involvement in such an innovative group also tends to trigger new forms of political participation and the promotion of public initiatives. The authors check whether the Italian GAS experience can be classified as a Social Movement organisation and come to interesting conclusions: social innovations such as the Gruppi di Acquisto Solidale seem to be a powerful catalyzer of collective goals, political participation and civic engagement. Their analysis seems to confirm that social innovations and bottom-up pressures may play a major role for changing the trajectories of social progress.