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Eco123 Revista da Economia e Ecologia
ECO123 was present at the International Meeting of Commissions of the Economy of Communion, which took place between 18th and 20th October in Abrigada. During the short breaks, it was possible to hold short interviews with two notable participants, with the aim of finding out more about the meaning and the motivations of the initiative. ECO123 talked to Luigino Bruni, the international head of the Economy of Communion and professor at the University of Florence, and with António Faria, managing partner of the Group Faria & Irmão, Lda. (one of the companies in Portugal participating in the Economy of Communion project).
ECO123: What does the expression “economy of communion” mean to you?
Luigino Bruni: For me, it means a project that was started in 1991 by Chiara Lubich, which proposes a different lifestyle for companies, for the distribution of profits, and which today, twenty-two years later, brings together different experiences from different parts of the world. By itself, it is an expression that says that the economy can become a place of communion, of sharing and of solidarity, and this project, which was born at that time, brings together different companies from all over the world.
What distinguishes the economy of communion from other forms of charitable economy?
LB: What distinguishes it, in essence, is the fact that it is intended for all types of companies and not only those that are concerned with poverty and social inclusion. There is a global dimension, and not just a local one; it is connected with forms of inclusion connected with productive work and not just aid. And it takes concrete shape through the creation of business centres in different parts of the world and entrepreneurial projects in any place inspired by the economy of communion. But, basically, charitable economy has a thousand different forms and the economy of communion is one of the ways of conceiving of charitable economy in today’s world.
I know that you attach importance to the role of the market in the economy, but in a different way to the current capitalist model. Could you explain your thinking?
LB: The market is a very interesting invention, a very positive invention by humanity because it is a form of relationship between people, in peaceful interaction, making encounters between people who do not know each other possible. It creates wealth, development, opportunity for all, a world without a market would be a poorer world, certainly no better that the one we have. The market assumed a very important role in the last century, with so-called capitalism, and in recent decades it has become a market which is above all financial, in which limited companies dominate almost everything. For this reason, when we are talking about the market, we need to see what it is we are talking about: about a financial market, capitalist, or a market of communion, in which we have a meeting of people, free and peaceful, an inclusive meeting, in a relationship of mutual advantage and of reciprocity. I’ve been working for years on this subject, mainly on a cultural and theoretical approach that sees the market as mutual support and mutual advantage, and not as a manifestation of egoism or of different forms of personal interest. It is a very old approach which sees an encounter of necessities and of reciprocity as typical of the market, and it is a line of thinking which is very close to that of the economy of communion in which the market is good in itself because it is an encounter of people. However, not all markets are the same, some are causing problems to arise in the social environment because they attach too much importance to economic interests to the detriment of the common good and ignore the value of giving, of gratuitousness and reciprocity that the market should develop.
What impressed you most when you heard about the idea of economy of communion?
António Faria: When Chiara Lubich came up with the economy of communion in 1991, I thought that it was what I wanted. I found a certain affinity with the way I thought and strove to live. The fact of sharing my things, of listening to others, of practising that reciprocal love that one must have for everyone, had already led me to think “why not do that in the company”? What was important in the family, at school, with friends, couldn’t be ignored in the company. It is obvious that you have to adjust, because the company’s circumstances are quite specific and you can’t simply do a straight swap. The idea was to take a risk, to experiment. Of course there were things that weren’t done so well, sometimes some voluntary work that didn’t go well, but it became more refined with time. Then, for me, it is also a very interesting experience because I share it with my brother (who is also a partner in the company) and with other businesspeople, although just a few, and we can share what goes better and what doesn’t work. And it is this sharing that is helping us, and in a company, whether in the economy of communion or not, there are always lots of things you don’t know, many painful moments and if you have this escape route and this faith and if you are on a path than was designed by God, that gives you a certain tranquillity and the possibility of often taking risks that you wouldn’t take in other circumstances.
Can you explain, with a simple example, how the economy and ecology can operate in harmony?
AF: We work with plastic materials which are shoe lasts, and in 1987, when we started this business which had been handed down by our parents, recycled material was almost irrelevant. Later, spurred on by this new awareness, we thought of recycling the lasts once they had been used. Because, until then, many of them had been buried, were put in house foundations, in landfill sites and it was a non-biodegradable material, polyethelene. But we thought that this material could be recycled and reincorporated. We were pioneers in Portugal, we bought equipment in Italy and started to recycle the lasts. Only ten years ago, with the difficulties in finding new materials and the stimulus in the recycling of materials, the method started to spread and this gave the company great capacity and experience in recycling lasts, so that today we are able to recycle four tonnes of lasts per day. Something that seemed unnecessary to start with turned out to be well worth it, even in economic terms.
Can the economy of communion create more jobs and, at the same time, sustainable wealth in Portugal?
AF: With this experience of the economy of communion, we have put the focus on people, and at this moment, creating jobs can be achieved through not destroying them. On other occasions, this can be even be achieved by continuing to put our faith in people who work with us and are going through a difficult time; if their work is below standard we give them the space to regenerate. We have many cases of employees who, for different reasons, go through difficult times and we always consider the person’s specific situation. Once we had an employee who we were forced to dismiss because of inappropriate behaviour, but we didn’t do it without him first being able to find another job, which we even managed with one of our competitors.
