Hypothesis: West wants Eastern comrades while East wants Western investors

I've just realised that Easterners and Westerners have different expectations on attending international conferences: Westerners want to find out Eastern comrades with whom they can discuss and implement projects inspired by Western experiences, while Easterners want Westerners to fund their projects so solidarity economy can be strengthened.

I suppose it's this difference in people's expectation which is churning out frustrations between both sides. So perhaps these could be common complaints:

• Easterners on Westerners: "People from the West are only bla-bla-bla without understanding that MONEY TALKS. They must invest us if they want us to work on solidarity economy!"

• Westerners on Easterners: "People from the East are only looking for funds from external sources, lacking the idea of self-management, including self-funding. Don't depend on others, but self-finance!"

I've come up with two potential solutions.

• 1) Invite Western ethical finance entities to invest in Eastern projects, fulfilling Easterners' expectations.

• 2) Help Easterners set up their own financial institutions to fund their own projects, as Westerns would suggest.

I'd like to see what you think...

Firstly I don't think its good to stereotype people into East or West, these terms have a whole lot of value judgements about them which lead to objectification, I'm not exactly sure what you mean by East and West, is it geographical? cultural? economic? We should wait to hear from people what their precise needs are.

Secondly it is very bad policy, particularly in the Social and Solidarity Economy to talk about money without first talking about what you are goind to do with it, because co-operatives have to have an objective in addition to making money, Fair Trade is supposed to contribute to equity and improved living conditions, all need personel and education but what to do with them must be talked about before talking about money.

When you use the word 'investment' you are talking about profit-making. It is more of a priority to get an overall picture of the who is in the Social and Solidarity Sector and what its components are, then partnerships between like-minded organizations can develop.

Sorry to be a bit critical Miguel, because this is a good group and looking at some important issues, I might just be being typically Australian in my comments so don't take it personally!

Helen, this is what I felt after attending different conferences. Of course stereotyping isn't too good, but I have to admit this is the tendency I've experienced.

My impression is that most "Eastern" experiences have already complied with the requirements to be regarded as solidarity economy, but the financial support is so weak there that their proposal never gets concretised.

Maybe I'm wrong, maybe I'm partially right, but I'd like to hear what others think about my observation...