L’economia solidale: un movimento internazionale - The solidarity-based Economy: an International Movement The author analyzes the forms of the multidimensional process which in recent years has witnessed the emergence of the interest for associations and cooperatives in economy and politics, as well as the formation in the civil society as a collective agent of transnational initiatives autonomous from enterprises and governments. The essay underlines the new questions expressed by associations and cooperatives in some of their current reconfigurations, with a specific attention to the new frontiers in the relationship between economy and politics. In its first part, the essay reflects on the characteristics of popular economy, of proximity services (household and community services), etc.; the second part is focussed on the process of the legitimation of solidarity-based economy.