Living labour” “

“Work should be re-invented, re-discovered in the light of its eminently human dimension”. This is message that comes from the Social Week of French Catholics held past November 22-24 simultaneously in Paris, Strasbourg and Lyon, with “communal” meetings and dedicated workshops. Considered a hot theme in the current situation in France and across Europe, the point of departure of the reflections was an analysis on the ongoing economic and social situation, aimed at identifying new paths and proposals regarding an understanding of work according to the social doctrine of the Church, whilst responding to the need to “re-invent” work. Between solitude and solidarity. Indeed, over the past three decades, the “basically ‘humanist’ conception of labour”, i.e. “work made for and by man, understood as the construction of an object, which is in relation to a person who is its designer, producer and consumer, and through which man in his working dimension lives in a happier condition his own humanity, has been completely destroyed”, said theologian Bruno Marie Duffé. Conversely, “our current approach to human activity makes us swing from solitude to solidarity, in a vital – and sometimes desperate – quest for “recognition”. Moreover, “our relationship with time has changed” and “the fast pace of discovery and the renewal of knowledge makes us remain vigil in the fear of being overcome” by new discoveries. Third, “our relationship with others, for others and for the human community takes place on the basis of a paradox” whereby the other is closer than the neighbour with whom we meet on a daily basis but with whom we never have time to stop and speak”. In these changes according to Durré is to be viewed the challenge and the demand of the social doctrine of the Church: “the challenge is to reaffirm the role of every person in his/her status as worker and the connection of individual work with the future of the human community”. Seeking new answers. One of the possible ways to reinvent work is represented by a plethora of different practices (fair trade, ethical banks, sustainable tourism…) generally viewed within the larger realm of solidarity-based social economy that Elena Lasida (Professor in Social Sciences) has described and identified within the ongoing social-economic framework, understood not so much as “the response to a request by those cut out from the prevailing economic system”, nor “as an alternative economic model, opposed to the traditional economic system”. Indeed, for Lasida, solidarity-based social economy “is capable of promoting social transformations that are unrelated to a predefined system, but that rather pertain to a complete innovation, a slow and progressive fecundation, which fills a void by giving birth to something completely new”. This model is marked by “imagination, creativity, exploration, and transformation”. In France it represents 10% of salaried workers, while it registered a 0.3% increase in the employment rate, while the rest of the job market dropped by 0.2%. Its potential and elements of innovation reside in the fact that “work is not only understood as a source of income, but as an area of personal and social existence”, through forms of “mutuality as well as sharing of needs and resources”. Feasible proposals. In the light of the pilot experiences shared during the three specific sessions of the Social week, Jérome Vignon, president of the Social Weeks of France, in his conclusions underlined some of the proposals put forward during the debates, namely, to extend “new forms of cooperation at territorial and cultural level, by establishing links with enterprises, local authorities, universities and public services, thereby prompting innovation and training”; “creating a field of new forms of intermediary activity, based on the enhancement of the skills of people that are not in employment”; “to extend to senior citizens the opportunity of employment (civic service for those over the age of 60), for initiatives such as support to the youths, transmission of knowledge”; “increasing the partnerships between enterprises of solidarity-based social economy and traditional enterprises”; seeking “authentic cooperation among EU countries so that not only occupation but also access to qualified work, fight on exclusion and the rejection of social dumping may return to be a joint commitment”.