What the study found
The study finds that Nicaragua’s “popular economy” is a subjective economic community sustained by the work of worker-producers in households, cooperatives, and other self-managing associations. It argues that this economy is important to how work, wealth, and welfare are organized in contemporary Nicaragua.
Why the authors say this matters
The authors situate the popular economy within the Sandinista project of 21st century welfare developmentalism, and they suggest that its importance lies in its role within that larger state and partisan project. The study also concludes that such subjective economic communities are indeterminate, meaning the authors see them as lacking a fixed political essence apart from the social contexts in which they are imagined and enacted.
What the researchers tested
The article examines the popular economy in contemporary Nicaragua and its relationship to the cooperative movement and MEFCCA, a state agency created to foster the growth of popular economy associations. It uses this setting to analyze how the popular economy is organized and understood within the broader political and social context.
What worked and what didn't
The article reports cooperation between the popular economy, the cooperative movement, and the state project, but it also identifies contradictions within and between the cooperative movement and MEFCCA. The authors argue that these communities are shaped by both cooperation and contradiction rather than by any single underlying political meaning.
What to keep in mind
The abstract does not describe a specific data set, sample, or research method in detail. It also does not provide quantitative findings or a limited case scope beyond contemporary Nicaragua.
Key points
- The article describes Nicaragua’s popular economy as a subjective economic community made up of worker-producers in households, cooperatives, and self-managing associations.
- The authors place this economy within the Sandinista project of 21st century welfare developmentalism.
- The study says the popular economy is important to the organization of work, wealth, and welfare in contemporary Nicaragua.
- It identifies contradictions within and between the cooperative movement and MEFCCA, the state agency that fosters popular economy associations.
- The authors conclude that subjective economic communities have no fixed political essence apart from their social context.
Disclosure
- Research title:
- Nicaragua’s popular economy is shaped by state and cooperative contradictions
- Authors:
- Jonah Walters
- Institutions:
- Institute of Genetics
- Publication date:
- 2026-01-28
- OpenAlex record:
- View
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