In the first pages of Mutual Aid, Dean Spade identifies the two main tasks of left-wing social movements as being “to organize to help people survive the devastating conditions unfolding every day,” and “to mobilize hundreds of millions of people for resistance so we can tackle the underlying causes of these crises” (11). Can mutual aid help to achieve these goals? Spade says yes, arguing:
The idea of co-operative cooking and eating was one of the things that excited me most about Dancing Rabbit when I was learning about the ins and outs of living in an intentional community. As a parent of three, my partner and I were flabbergasted at the idea that we could cook once or twice a week for a group of friends and children in a communally stocked kitchen, full of fresh produce from the cooperative garden, and have lunch and dinner served to us every day. What I didn’t expect was the howling.
We are excited to announce the results of the 2024 USFWC Board of Directors Elections!
USFWC members reelected two board members, Kimberly Britt of ChiFresh Kitchen and Dominique Pearson of L.A. Co-op Lab, and elected two new board members, Adrian Roman of Colmenar Consulting and Evelyn Torres or Radiate Consulting NYC. Welcome Adrian and Evelyn and welcome back Kimberly and Dominique. New board members will take their seats at the conclusion of our November board meeting.
...an interview with Professor Jerome N. Warren, editor of the newly published Routledge Handbook of Cooperative Economics and Management.
Since its inception in 2006, UAA’s ACDC has promoted the development of new co-ops in underserved sectors and introduced innovative cooperative models. Thanks to the USDA RCDG grant, ACDC provides free technical assistance and board training. This year, the center launched a statewide monthly co-op call, offering a platform for co-ops to share best practices.
Prefigurative politics, building the new within the old, exercising our muscles of collectivity and collaboration—muscles that have grown weak and atrophied under capitalist hegemony—these are all ideas and practices that play a crucial role in our revolutionary movements. And examples of prefiguration can and do take many interesting and inspiring forms—one of these forms is worker self-direction, or worker cooperatives.
White Electric Coffee Co-op
711 Westminster St., Providence RISupporters of worker cooperatives celebrate the public launch of Rhode Island Worker Cooperative Alliance (RIWCA).
Released on October 17th under the title “Social Development in Times of Converging Crises: A Call for Global Action”, the report is the output of the global call by the GA resolution 77/281 in April 2023 to promote the social and solidarity economy for sustainable development.
Since January 2023, Keep It In The Culture , a worker-owned cooperative, has been committed to supporting the New Orleans culture bearer community by offering affordable craft and costume materials. Located at 3400 Claiborne Avenue, Suite D, New Orleans, Louisiana 70125 the cooperative provides essential items like plumes, beads, and other materials required to create the iconic suits worn by the Mardi Gras Indians, also known as Black Masking Indians-an art form both costly and labor-intensive to maintain.
