Section to Debate The role that policies of social economy play in the social-assistance configuration in Argentina Vanesa Ciolli 1 Abstract: The article aims to understand the role that policies of social and solidarity economy play in the social-assistance configuration in present-day Argentina, describing a group of governmentality mechanism. Keywords: Social policy, social and solidarity economy, social assistance, self-employment, governmentality. . 1 E-mail: [email protected] Iberofórum. Revista de Ciencias Sociales de la Universidad Iberoamericana. Año VIII, No. 15.Enero-Junio de 2013. Vanesa Ciolli. pp. 31-63. ISSN: 2007-0675. Universidad Iberoamericana A.C., Ciudad de México. www.uia/iberoforum