The Social and Solidarity-based Economy (SSE) is becoming more and more recognized as a group of companies operating under a specific socioeconomic logic. While considered during the Fordist period as a derivative of public policiy, the SSE is gradually becoming more autonomous. SSE still is however heavely influenced by a sector logic, which hampers its participation in the socioeconomic and socio-political development at the subregional level.
The scope of this study includes four employment areas in the French region of Rhône-Alpes, whose integration into the productive system differs strongly, and in which the SSE occupies a specific place and plays a differentiated role. This comparison indicates what needs to be done in the areas of transversality and mutualisation so that the SSE can participate fully in policy-making and regional regulation. Institutional mediations appear to be indispensable to ensure this passage from a sector-based to a tranversal logic at the local level.