Gaining insight into EU’s social and solidarity economy role via strategic policy documents analysis

Abstract

This study examined European Union institutions’ strategic policy documents and social and solidarity economy (SSE) concepts to gain a bird’s‐eye view of the topics being dealt with in EU strategies. The research also included assessing the SSE’s role (i.e., its presence, absence, and relative importance) in policy and program instruments developed to meet challenges such as (un)employment, poverty, social inclusion, local development, community sustainability, and ecological transitions. Automated text mining techniques were applied to 74 EU policy documents to cluster employment, social affairs, and inclusion policies, and explore the SSE’s most critical—or potential—role. The results have important policy implications and suggest future research directions.