Michela Giovannini

Michela Giovannini is a visiting PhD candidate from the School of Local Development and Global Dynamics at the University of Trento, Italy. Michela’s doctoral research focuses on the role and potential of social enterprises in sustaining development of Indigenous communities in Latin America. Her main argument is that social enterprises, intended as collective grassroots organizations, are especially suited to sustain an Indigenous view of development. Based on the direct control of natural resources, the view is essentially aimed at achieving buen vivir (« living well »). This traditional Andean concept describes a collective well being based on respectful exchanges between humans and the natural environment, on the promotion of collective rights, and on a community-based model of production.

In Italy she is an affiliate of the European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprise (Euricse), which carries on research at the local and international level with an interdisciplinary approach.

During her fellowship at the centre, Michela’s paper « Social enterprises for development as buen vivir » has been reviewed and submitted to the Journal of Enterprising Communities.

2 Analyses/working papers/articles