What would it take to build a 'social economy,' an economy rooted in the principles of social justice, democratic governance and local self-reliance? What are the progressive and regressive implications of such an undertaking? This course explores these questions both theoretically and practically: theoretically, with recourse to some canonical and more recent writings about the interface between 'society' and 'economy'; practically, by looking at what role municipal governments could and do play in building the social economy. The course will also consider how communities and neighbourhoods are growing increasingly active in developing alternative economic institutions, such as cooperatives, participatory budgets, and community development financial institutions in order to institutionalize the social economy at the local scale.