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There is widespread agreement on the need for a bold economic development strategy aimed at realigning the interests of business with those of local communities. Less clear is what precisely needs to be done. We argue that an effective way to achieve this goal is by decommodifying business ownership through the democratisation of private companies.

Stefan Gruber, a Carnegie Mellon professor of architecture and urbanism, sees cities as a prime site of struggle between capitalism and commons, and at the same time more accessible than most national or international policy venues.

In this video, our panel of experts in the cooperative cannabis industry discuss challenges and opportunities to expand ownership and give reparations to those impacted by the War on Drugs.

There is some hope on the horizon with the second International Year of Co-operatives, taking place in 2025, which the UN recently declared.

What follows is a collection of autonomous mutual aid groups and disaster relief resources that are being mobilized in the southeast in the wake of Hurricane Helene. Please consider boosting and donating to these groups and organizing support for supply chains to impacted areas.

In contrast to traditional co-operatives that are owned by a single class of members, multi-stakeholder co-operatives are owned and controlled by more than one type of membership class such as consumers, producers, workers, volunteers, or community supporters. Stakeholders can be individuals or organizations such as non-profits, businesses, government agencies, or even other co-operatives.

Today, on their one-third-acre lot in Oakland (California), there are 20 adults and 4 babies living in 6 buildings with 10 units. There's a 4-plex with 5 adults, 2 apartments with 2 or 4 adults upstairs and families downstairs, and 2 houses with families.

Dave Darby of Lowimpact.org and Stroud Commons talks with Tom Woodroof of Local Loop Merseyside and Mutual Credit Services about the Credit Commons – a way to federate different groups all over the world that are building the commons economy (because you can’t get everything you need from just your community) – but it does it without centralised control. I want to get more details from Tom about this world-changing initiative.

Turning football into a common, managed directly by the players and the fans, is a feasible possibility and has already been attempted.

Today we’re visiting community-rooted enterprises where people are rethinking power and participation in their lives. Collective housing and cultural co-ops, land trusts and community banks are providing fundamental shifts in our workplaces, living spaces, and economic understanding of local communities.