Cooperatives

The Take: Documentary On Factories Occuped By Workers

June 17, 2014 Top Documentary Films, www.topdocumentaryfilms.com Educate! Argentina, Cooperatives, Democracy, Elections, Resistance

We heard rumors of a new kind of economy emerging in Argentina. With hundreds of factories closing, waves of workers were locking themselves inside and running the workplaces on their own, with no bosses. Where we come from, a closed factory is just an inevitable effect of a model, the end of a story. In Argentina today, it's just the beginning. In suburban Buenos Aires, thirty unemployed auto-parts workers walk into their idle factory, roll out sleeping mats and refuse to leave. All they want is to re-start the silent machines. But this simple act - The Take - has the power to turn the globalization debate on its head. In the wake of Argentina's dramatic economic collapse in 2001, Latin America's most prosperous middle class finds itself in a ghost town of abandoned factories and mass unemployment. The Forja auto plant lies dormant until its former employees take action. They're part of a daring new movement of workers who are occupying bankrupt businesses and creating jobs in the ruins of the failed system. But Freddy, the president of the new worker's co-operative, and Lalo, the political powerhouse from the Movement of Recovered Companies, know that their success is far from secure. Like every workplace occupation, they have to run the gauntlet of courts, cops and politicians who can either give their project legal protection or violently evict them from the factory.

We Need A New Kind Of Open Cooperative

June 17, 2014 Michael Bauwens, www.p2pfoundation.net Create! Commons, Cooperatives, P2P

“The cooperative movement and cooperative enterprises are in the midst of a revival, even as some of their long-standing entities are failing. This revival is part of an ebb and flow of cooperativism, that is strongly linked to the ebb and flow of the mainstream capitalist economy. After systemic crisis such as the one in 2008, many people look at alternatives. Yet, we can’t simply look at the older models and revive them, we have to take into account the new possibilities and requirements of our epoch, and especially of the affordances that digital networks are bringing to us. Here are a few ideas from the ‘peer to peer’ perspective, as we develop them in the context of the Peer to Peer Foundation. First, let’s start with a critique of the older cooperative models: Yes coops are more democratic than their capitalist counterparts based on wage-dependency and internal hierarchy. But cooperatives that work in the capitalist marketplace tend to gradually take over competitive mentalities, and even if they would not, they work for their own members, not the common good.

Black Co-ops Were A Method Of Economic Survival

June 14, 2014 Jessica Gordon Nembhard, www.geo.coop Educate! Black Power, Cooperatives, Racism

Du Bois’ position was that African Americans were discriminated against economically, that we were trying to become capitalists and gain individual wealth just like other Americans, however it wasn’t working because of racism and discrimination. He said that we should voluntarily form a group economy based on a sense of solidarity and use producer and consumer cooperatives to position ourselves to serve our economic needs separately from the white economy. This way we could control our own goods and services and gain income and wealth - stabilize ourselves and our communities. Then if we wanted to join the mainstream economy, we could join from a position of strength. Du Bois said this in various ways from about 1897 until the end of his life. Aside from doing the full study in 1907, he actually held a conference at Atlanta University that same year. He was holding annual conferences about African Americans during that period at Atlanta University, and in 1907 the conference topic was “Negro Businesses and Cooperatives.” Du Bois was among the speakers at that conference and he had other people talk about cooperative activity among Negroes.

The Rise Of The Progressive City

May 29, 2014 Michelle Goldberg, www.alternet.org Create! Cities, Cooperatives, New Economy, New York (NY), San Francisco

As the gears of federal government have ground to a halt, a new energy has been rocking the foundations of our urban centers. From Atlanta to Seattle and points in between, cities have begun seizing the initiative, transforming themselves into laboratories for progressive innovation. Cities Rising is The Nation’s chronicle of those urban experiments. * * * The Bush years were grim for progressives, but they did offer one small consolation: the hope that if only a smart and decent person could ascend to the White House, our politics could be repaired. Now, after years of destructive austerity and hopeless stalemate, that faith is dead. People on the left will debate where to lay the blame, but few will disagree that our federal institutions seem utterly unequal to the challenges of a country still reeling from economic crisis. Indeed, our national politics are so deformed that it’s hard even to imagine the steps necessary to fix things. Last year, The Boston Globe ran an award-winning series, “Broken City,” about the entropy in Washington. The final piece noted that potential remedies for the country’s problems are met with “almost complete indifference in Washington, the world’s capital of gridlock, even when alternative, perhaps better, ways are already at work, some in plain sight.”

Change From Below In Dominican Republic

May 25, 2014 Beverly Bell, www.otherworldsarepossible Create! Cooperatives, Housing, Revolution

Previous theories of social transformation could be constructed based on the American Far West movies, where the stagecoach came through the desert with those who stole, guarded, and transported the gold. The revolutionaries waited to raid the coach. Revolutions – the October Revolution, all of them - were based on that image of the assault on power. This is an anti-Zapatista image, which instead is of building power from the community, from below. This image requires a new vision. Our problem nowadays is how to build power and a new economy from below. There are many factors to take into account in doing this, but first and foremost: human beings. There had been some social movements in the city: traditional movements as well as the union movements and so-called “housewife” movements; cultural and youth clubs that worked on popular art, popular education and sports; the literary movement… During times of dictatorship, the youth movement and the teachers’ movement were those that had the most staying-power.

Enthusiasm High For A New Economy For Baltimore

May 24, 2014 It's Our Economy, www.itsoureconomy.us Organize! Baltimore, Cooperatives, New Economy

With growing recognition that the economy fails to serve the interests of most people, alternative institutions and processes based on economic democracy are beginning to pop up everywhere. This movement points to what is called by some as “the New Economy.” Throughout the country people are joining a global movement to create structures grounded in democratic control of community wealth – an economy of, by, and for the people. On May 16 and 17, Baltimore took another step in this direction when more than 100 people attended the Economic Democracy Conference. The Baltimore conference followed on the heels of a similar event in Jackson, Mississippi two weeks prior. The Jackson Rising: New Economies Conference brought people together from many communities across the nation interested in putting in establishing cooperatives and other institutions of economic democracy. In June, a national New Economy conference is scheduled in Boston and in July there will be an international conference on the subject in Mexico. People want greater decision making in their workplaces, communities, and lives and that is what economic democracy offers; it builds infrastructure and institutions that facilitate people participating in the shaping of their own futures. The seeds of a democratized economy are firmly planted in the United States. More than 130 million residents are members of some type of cooperative, including credit unions.

Vision For A New Urban Economy Based On Democracy

May 16, 2014 Staff, www.PopularResistance.org Educate! Cooperatives, Economic Democracy, Energy, Finance and the Economy, Food and Agriculture, Housing

Tonight is the first night of the Building Our New Economy Together, Economic Democracy Conference in Baltimore. If you are unable to make it to the conference tonight, keep it tuned to this page for a live stream of our town hall at The Real News Network! You will also be able to catch the opening and closing plenary sessions on Saturday right here. For more on the event’s schedule, visit here. The evening will bring together top national experts on reframing our political situation with the folks in Baltimore who are already working on these issues. This session will be held from 7 to 9 PM, with doors opening at 6:30 PM and a reception following. Speakers will include (order TBD): Margaret Flowers of Popular Resistance and Its Our Economy Diane Bell McKoy, Associated Black Charities Gar Alperovitz, University of Maryland, College Park Jacqui Dunne, Author, Rethinking Money: How New Currencies Turn Scarcity into Prosperity Michael Coleman, United Workers

Economic Democracy Is Part Of Long Struggle For Racial And Economic Justice

May 16, 2014 Carl Davidson, www.carldavidson.blogspot.com Create! Cooperatives, Democracy, Economic Democracy, Finance and the Economy

Nearly 500 people turned out over the May 2-4, 2014 weekend for the ‘Jackson Rising’ conference in Jackson, Mississippi. It was a highly successful and intensive exploration of Black power, the solidarity economy and the possibilities unleashed for democratic change when radicals win urban elections. The gathering drew urban workers and rural farmers, youth and the elderly, students and teachers, men and women. At least half were people of color. About 50 were from the city of Jackson itself, and most were from other Southern states. But a good deal came from across the country, from New York to the Bay area, and a few from other countries—Quebec, South Africa, Venezuela and Zimbabwe. . . "Freeing the land has given our people a new sense of belonging," said Omar Sierra, of Venezuela. “Chokwe Lumumba extended his solidarity to us in a time of need. Our people are saddened by his passing, and will not forget him.” William Copeland, a cultural organizer from Detroit. Summed up the spirit of the crowd: “These presentations demonstrate the international significance of the Black Liberation Movement and Southern movement building.”

Voices Of Jackson Rising

May 13, 2014 VoiceRaiser, www.youtube.com Create! Cooperatives, Mississippi

The Jackson Rising: New Economies Conference explored the possibility of making Jackson, Mississippi a center and example of economic democracy by building strong cooperatives and other forms of worker owned enterprises and financial institutions that will create jobs with dignity, stability, living wages, and quality benefits. The primary objective of the Conference was to educate and mobilize the people of Jackson to meet the economic and sustainability needs of our community. Thanks to Shanina Carmichael, Kali Akuno, June Hardwick, Chokwe Antar Lumumba and Von Anderson for sharing your voices and stories.

Mutuals: A Longstanding Force In Banking

May 12, 2014 Andy Mullineux, www.thenews.coop Educate! Cooperatives, Public Banking

On this day 12 months ago, a downgrade by ratings agency Moodys started a process that led to the end of full co-operative ownership of the Co-operative Bank. It wasn’t the only mutual bank by any means, but to look beyond the story of the year that followed, it is helpful to look back. What role do mutuals play in banking? Well, a mutual savings bank is a bank which takes savings deposits from its members, who are also the owners and makes loans, sometimes to members only, and sometimes also to non-savers, who may then become members and owners.The loans are commonly to households, but in some cases may be to small businesses (and in turn, in some cases, those businesses, such as farmers, may be the member owners). A history of mutual banking They are commonly retail banks, funded by retail deposits collected through branches, rather than larger wholesale deposits from other banks or businesses through the money markets, including the ‘interbank’ market. Typically, in aggregate, small local retail savings banks collect more deposits than they can lend and they are net lenders to larger commercial banks.

Alternative Economic Models: Food Co-ops And Fair Trade

May 11, 2014 Phyllis Robinson, www.smallfarmersbigchange.coop Create! Cooperatives, Fair Trade, Food and Agriculture

But, there is an alternative. If the goal of a movement is economic transformation, US and THEM can actually become WE – considerably more complex and nuanced an approach, but at the end of the day, a much more inspiring and worthwhile goal. And imagine the difference, when people feel ownership in a business model: farmers, workers, members all have a different relationship to their work when they own the decisions… and the results of those decisions. Not only are co-operatives a more empowering model in and of themselves, but in a co-operative economy, the entire system can be transformative. Supply chains are carefully and thoughtfully built so that while each party has their role to fill, a true partnership is formed – people are not reduced to mere “producer” or “consumer”, but instead, all parties along the supply chain become actors, more fully developed and invested in the entire supply chain, the product and the partnerships: quality, integrity, respect and transparency occur throughout the chain.

Organized Labor, Public Banks: Keys To A Worker-Owned Economy

May 3, 2014 Matt Stannard, www.occupy.com Create! Cooperatives, Labor, Public Banking

Worker-owned cooperatives build economic democracy, but how do we build more worker-owned cooperatives? Here are three valuable allies to help us get there. Before his death in February, Jackson Mississippi Mayor Chokwe Lumumba was helping his constituents chart an economic plan whose main component was worker-owned cooperatives. In her recent article about Lumumba and cooperatives, Laura Flanders cites Collective Courage author Jessica Gordon Nembhard’s point that African-American leaders from Marcus Garvey to W.E.B. DuBois were proponents of cooperatives. DuBois, Garvey and Lumumba understood that worker democracy was necessary for economic sovereignty and community solidarity. For Richard Wolff, whose most recent book is Democracy at Work: A Cure for Capitalism, this time-honored form is also the key to arenewed movement for economic democracy. For Wolff, a synergy of labor and the left around worker-owned cooperatives promises to be an “unapologetically anticapitalist” strategy, challenging “the essence of the capitalist organization of production—the employer-employee relationship” and reshaping it in an egalitarian fashion.

Vio.Me: Workers’ Control In The Greek Crisis

May 1, 2014 Theodoros Karyotis, www.roarmag.org Create! Cooperatives, Greece, Labor, Worker Rights and Jobs

Just one among thousands of Greek companies that succumbed to the deep recession brought about by the austerity measures imposed by a series of governments, the construction materials manufacturer Vio.Me was abandoned by its owners in May 2011. Forty of its workers, organized horizontally in a militant primary workers’ union, occupied the factory, located in the outskirts of Thessaloniki, to prevent the employers from taking away the machinery before paying the workers the nearly €1.5 million owed in salaries and compensations. After one year of unfruitful contacts with the Ministry of Labor and the central trade union bureaucracies, the workers of Vio.Me, with the threat of poverty and chronic unemployment looming over their heads, announced in July 2012 their intention to self-manage production in the occupied factory, with their now famous slogan: “If you can’t do it, we can.” This declaration was met with the indifference or hostility of most political parties, right and left, and of the trade union bureaucracies.

Solar Cooperatives Are On The Rise

April 27, 2014 Laurie Guevara-Stone, www.blog.rmi.org Create! Climate Change, Cooperatives, Energy, Solar

Over 100 households in Mt. Pleasant now have solar on their roofs thanks to the co-op, which has also supported the creation of other solar co-ops across the region. Louise Meyer, a Mt. Pleasant co-op member with a 2.85 kilowatt (kW) system on her roof, tried to install solar years before the co-op existed when the D.C. government offered a subsidy for PV systems. She was one of the many people who didn’t get selected, so she was ecstatic when the co-op was founded. “I felt like I was part of a team, it made much more sense, you could compare notes and not feel so stranded,” she says. “It was such a new area for many people and the paperwork is such a hassle, being part of the cooperative made it so much easier.” The cooperative has also become a major force for solar advocacy and is pushing for legislation to enable more solar in the greater D.C. area.

Building A Regional Food System

April 24, 2014 John Duda, www.community-wealth.org Create! Community, Cooperatives, Food and Agriculture

The Fifth Season Cooperative: Building Community Wealth and a Regional Food System We first learned about the innovative, multistakeholder Fifth Season Cooperative in Wisconson's 7 Rivers region from the community wealth builders at Gundersen Lutheran Health Systems, whom we interviewed for one of the case studies in our report Hospitals Building Healthier Communities: Embracing the Anchor Mission. The more we learned, the more excited we became...the cooperative has a uniquely innovative six-member class structure, and is transforming the shuttered NCR factory in Viroqua, WI into an engine of regional food security and local economic stability. Here's our infographic outlining how the cooperative works:

«1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 »

assetto corsa mods

Daily movement news and resources