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Lagos to leverage 3000 cooperatives for improved livelihood

The Lagos State government has reiterated its commitment to leveraging the over 3000 cooperative societies in the state for improved livelihood of the citizens.

“The administration recognises that cooperative movement is highly democratic, locally autonomous but internationally integrated,” said Adetutu Oluremi Ososanya, permanent secretary, ministry of commerce, industry and cooperatives, during a media briefing to herald the 2023 International Cooperative Day, held in conjunction with the Lagos State Cooperative Federation (LASCOFED), on Tuesday.

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August 24, 2023

Limited Equity Co-ops and Community Land Trusts

Summary

This country needs more affordable homeownership options. And more communities are looking to the long-established Limited Equity Cooperative (LEC) and Community Land Trust (CLT) models to provide a permanently affordable way to provide homes for low and moderate-income individuals and families. But how do these models work to provide housing ownership and stability? Who controls the decision-making, and how do you get them financed and developed?

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August 28, 2023

Driving Economic Justice: The Public Option

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Summary

Having successfully fought for regulatory reform for all taxi workers in the past and facing the realities of a shrinking taxi industry in San Diego, UTWSD, in its mission of pursuing taxi worker well being, has turned to a vision of promoting economic democracy through cooperative means.

USFWC Welcomes New Staff Union: “Federation Workers United”

This summer, staff of the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC) formed an independent union, the Federation Workers United (FWU), which was subsequently voluntarily recognized by Executive Director Esteban Kelly on July 14th, 2023. The union includes the full and part time staff outside of the USFWC leadership team.

Winding Down the Main Street Phoenix Project

Main Street Phoenix Project is closing down. It is a cooperative that many of us in the co-op movement were looking to as a model. MSPP emerged in the context of the disruption of COVID-19, with the goal of enabling small businesses to be more resilient. Rather than workers owning just their particular workplace, as in a typical worker co-op, they would own a holding company. This means that, if a particular business faced trouble, its workers could draw on the resources of a larger network to adapt.

Associate Professor, Department of Communication Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University

Research Assistant, Department of Communication Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University

Research Assistant, Department of Communication Studies, Wilfrid Laurier University

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September 1, 2023

Accelerating Worker Ownership

Summary

An online panel facilitated by co-op researcher-practitioner Emi Do that brings together presenters from several such projects: CoTech, Exit to Community Collective, Platform Cooperativism Consortium, SPACE4, Start.coop, UnFound Accelerator, and Union Cooperative Initiative. These projects advance democratic business formation and co-op theory-building, and they offer valuable lessons on the promises and challenges of accelerating worker ownership today.

The Swiss start-ups embracing the cooperative model

“This is the biggest difference with most of the European record labels – the company belongs to the musicians and producers,” says Christian Müller, managing director of Red Brick Chapel. The artists can help shape how the company develops and retain control over their music. “They decide what happens to their music after production and how they are exploited financially.”

Power purpose and pay: ways to decide about money together

In an evolving world where organizations are shifting towards a more resilient, responsive, and decentralized approach, we are finding ourselves in uncharted territories. This transformation has brought along an array of challenges, including around shared decision-making in financial and legal spheres.

Adam S. Green is a lecturer in sustainability at the University of York. He is an archaeological anthropologist focused on South Asia, specializing in the comparative study of early states through the lenses of technology, the environment, and political economy.

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September 4, 2023

Why Are Archaeologists Unable to Find Evidence for a Ruling Class of the Indus Civilization?

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Summary

The most tantalizing feature of the ancient Indus Valley remains is what they appear to lack: any trace of a ruling class or managerial elite.

The ILO holds meeting on care provision through cooperatives

On Wednesday, August 23rd, The ILO’s Cooperative Unit (COOP) and the Gender, Equality, Diversity and Inclusion (GEDI) Branch came together with 27 ILO colleagues from headquarters and the field to discuss progress on the initiative Cooperative Care Provision as a Gender-Transformative Decent Work Solution, initially launched in March 2023.

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San Francisco LGBTQ Co-op Bar the Stud To Reopen

The Stud, a stalwart San Francisco bar that hosted events and provided support to the city's LGBTQ community for decades before closing during the Covid pandemic, is slated to reopen this year in a new location.

August 26, 2011

Justice at Hersheys

Collective Diaspora is a membership-based organization of Black cooperatives and Black-led cooperative support organizations from across the African diaspora.

We are weaving together a transnational Black cooperative support system to challenge the economic isolation faced by Black communities and the extraction of Black wealth that has been taking place in different forms since the Transatlantic Slave Trade.

By deepening our connections and sharing resources, we make our cooperatives and organizations, and in turn our communities, stronger and more resilient.