As echoed in the Call for Papers to this conference, the literature on solidarity economy and social enterprises has emphasized the importance of more dialogue between the global ‘North’ and global ‘South’ on practices and knowledge related to solidarity economy, social innovation and social enterprise. We start from the assumption that there is a similar lack of dialogue across Europe’s different realities, with especially Eastern practitioners and scholars missing from European and global forums of debate. 

This paper offers a self-reflective analysis of research on solidarity initiatives carried out in Hungary within the framework of the EU-funded project “Solidarity in European Societies: Empowerment, Social Justice and Citizenship”. The paper starts with presenting findings derived from ten case studies spanning five policy areas (access to housing, education for vulnerable minorities, refugee support, mental health and local food provision/rural development) focusing on whether participatory governance was a characteristic and/or conducive factor for success. It then analyses the extent to whether large-scale European collaborative research projects may push certain ideas and narratives onto contexts for which they are not suitable, and the consequences thereof. Our central argument based on this double analysis is that the Hungarian case studies do not support the notion that participatory governance is a precondition for social enterprises and solidarity economy initiatives to strive.