Numerous contributions in social and political sciences have been based on the hypothesis of a seperation between public sphere and economie questions. These conceptualizations can be questionned by all the experiences of civil and solidarity-based economy mentionned in this volume. After having studied them, it becomes possible to present a renewed analysis about the theoritical and historical links relating the political public sphere and the socio-economic realities. This analysis can take place in the contemporary re-birth of economic sociology and provide elements to reformulate the current debates about economy and democracy.