Social Co-operatives and Social Farming in Italy.

The article analyses the recent evolution of rural social co-operation in Italy through study of a representative sample of enterprises. The results of the research highlight the innovative features of such co-operatives and the role that they can perform in the development of the rural and social economy. The article also explores the social, economic and cultural factors that have favoured the emergence of social co-operatives, furnishing an original contribution to the study of change processes in the social economy sector and in the revitalisation of the rural economy. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]