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We report on the University of Mondragon, which is fighting to preserve its teaching mission, industry-focused research, and more
A fascinating new report just published by Co-operatives UK describes the huge potential of community land trusts and other forms of mutual housing and enterprise. Commons Sense: Co-operative place making and the capturing of land value for 21st century Garden Cities brings together a wealth of insight into the practical solutions that community land trusts (CLTs) can provide.
The importance of the notion of ‘the mode of production’ is emphasised by all those scholars who hold that the ‘history-as-totality’ approach is the core of Marx's theory of society. Among them, Gramsci argued that while scientific advancements could shed little light on the issues with which philosophers and economists had traditionally been concerned, concepts such as ‘social relations of production’ and ‘mode of production’ had provided valuable insights for philosophical and economic inquiry. Hence our interest in the question of whether a system of producer cooperatives would actually lead to the establishment of a new mode of production. Opinions in the matter diverge greatly, and major implications stem from the distinction between worker managed firms (WMFs) and labour managed firms (LMFs), where the latter strictly segregate capital incomes from labour incomes. We conclude that LMF cooperatives do implement a new mode of production because they reverse the typical capital–labour relation right within a capitalistic system. An additional major point addressed in some detail is the main contradiction in capitalism.
People act like the sharing economy is some completely new market phenomenon. But the ethos of the sharing economy (shared work, shared ownership, and shared benefit) is embedded in the cooperative model.
"The Catalan Integrated Cooperative (CIC) began two years ago; it now has 850 members and several thousand people who participate in debates and projects. Under the label "integrated," the Cooperative functions as a political project seeking to tie together consumer and labor initiatives "and many others, such as education, mechanisms to create a cooperative basic income, eco-stores, collective stores, meetings and events, and a legal structure to help the formation of eco-networks and other similar projects in Catalonia," explains its communication team.
Pat Conaty - Research associate at Co-operatives UK looks at the 'commons' throughout history and argues that the 'commons' are more relevant than ever in the 2
Cooperative and not-for-profit models have been set up in many countries in recent decades, particularly in the homecare services sector. They fulfil social functions not covered by the state or market, in areas such as education, health and integration. As is the case in Canada, to some extent, the social and solidarity economy can be recognized as having obvious potential as an effective tool for addressing a number of themes linked to public policies, such as infancy, solidarity-based partnerships between farmers and consumers for local high quality food, environmental sustainability and sustainable energy solutions. This recognition should go hand in hand with the introduction of public policies and regulations that encourage this potential.
The Co-operative movement needs to take this opportunity to recognise why it has become such a marginal force in the economy and politics. Lesson number one: it downplayed the necessity of tension and conflict in its practice and tradition. It embraced a flat system of egalitarian membership in which, unsurprisingly, elites get their way as they are not held to account by interests but by a placid membership going along with things.
Creating and sharing educational tools for social and economic justice
The American worker is doing so well. The median wage earner’s pay hasn’t grown in years, while most economic growth is being captured only by the already wealthy. While these problems are well-documented, finding a solution for the average wage-earner’s plight has been more difficult.
Do you set up your own home office or join a co-working community? Shop at a chain grocery store or a local food co-op? Bank or credit union?
“Most co–operative practice is single stakeholder. Therefore the co-op sector divides between typically consumer co-ops, worker co-ops and farmer co-ops, each generally with their backs to each other and walking away from each other. This one dimensional aspect is impeding in my view an untapped revolutionary economic potential for a new generation of full dimensional co-ops to ignite.
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Richard Wolff: Why are we told a broken system that creates vast inequality is the only choice? Spain's amazing co-op is living proof otherwise
“The recommendations grew out of deliberative discussions at a Mid Wales conference that we ran this summer to help community based local food, co-operative energy and community recycling projects to expand their small scale good practice. We asked them in the day long working groups to identify the impediments.
The co-operative movement has had a turbulent past few months; the Co-op Bank went into crisis and a member of Spain's Mondragon co-op faced bankruptcy. However, in this year's autumn statement the chancellor, George Osborne, vowed to support employee ownership and include tax breaks for social enterprises. Does this mean the future is bright for co-operatives and the social enterprise sector as a whole?
“New garden cities are needed to tackle the UK’s housing crisis, create sustainable communities and help young people get on the housing ladder, a new report, ‘Commons Sense’ from Co-operatives UK argues.
DARIO: The importance of this wide range of worker control experiences rests in its showing that during the past one hundred years workers have occupied their workplaces and started democratically controlled and self-managed production enterprises in almost all regions of the world. Under all forms of political rule, workers have struggled for participation in the decision-making processes of the enterprises they work in, and have attempted to develop forms of co- and self-management, or workers’ control; they have founded cooperatives and councils as a genuine expression and manifestation of their historical and material interests. In the early twentieth century, workers tried to gain control over production in social and socialist revolutions like those in Russia or Spain, and under state socialism as in Poland or Hungary; they did so as well in anti-colonial struggles and democratic revolutions in Portugal, Indonesia and Algeria. This form of worker control was present in labor struggles against capitalist restructuring in the last third of the twentieth century in Great Britain, Italy, Canada, and elsewhere; and it manifested itself strongly as an instrument of workers and communities contending against the consequences of global capitalist crises since the 1990’s, in Argentina, most of Latin America, and as well in India and some European countries.
"The question of which system is desirable, in detail, is quite important. Unfortunately we cannot determine in abstract which system will work best and what problems will develop, though we can make guesses. To fully understand the consequences of an economic system can only be decided experimentally. This leads us to the chicken and the egg problem. How can we promote a new system without knowing what it will look like and if we don’t have a new system to promote, how can we convince the broad masses that we should remove the presently existing system – however deformed our present system becomes.
CECOP-CICOPA Europe’s presents in this document the opportunities and challenges for successful business transfers in Europe under the cooperative form. Several good examples are presented from Spain, Italy, France and the UK together with the cooperative characteristics and the legal environment facilitating business transfer to employees. The document also offers an overview of the financial and support services for business transfers to employees and policy recommendations addressed to the European Commission and the member states.
Meridian University offers graduate programs in Psychology, Education, and Business Administration with a focus on transformative learning techniques
Democratic technology companies offer benefits far beyond equity options and catered food, and now they’re banding together into a co-op network to take their influence to the next level.
The International Summit of Cooperatives is a biennial gathering where leaders of cooperative and mutualist enterprises get together to discuss their concerns about the current and future business challenges they all share.
Though co-operative businesses often trade in different sectors, they have shared areas where they can learn from one another – areas like membership, engagement, marketing, finance and governance.
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Scoop.it!
