The Trueke: A Timely Proposal!

Abstract

Written by a self-taught promoter of the Trueke (barter exchange) in Medellín, this article presents the practice as a space for Solidarity Economy and an alternative to the money-based capitalist economic system. The author develops a historical reflection on community-based economic organization in pre-Columbian American societies, contrasting them with the evolution of modern capitalism and its social consequences of exclusion and environmental degradation linked to the neoliberal model. The text argues that the solidarity economy, grounded in self-management and cooperation principles, offers a market alternative not exclusively conditioned by money, presenting the Trueke as a social laboratory with institutional support from Medellín's Deputy Secretariat of Social Development.