Grassroots Economic Organizing

Catalyzing worker co-ops & the solidarity economy

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October 10, 2011

From #OccupyWallStreet to #OccupyCampus?

Economic Justice Environmental Justice #Occupy Movement Education

Mattia Granata

Research Institute of the Italian Co-operative Federation Lega Nazionale delle Coperative e Mutue
Via Antonio Guattani 9
Rome 0164, Italy

Keti Lelo

Department of Business Studies, Roma Tre University
Via Silvio D’Amico 77
Rome 00145, Italy

Salvatore Monni

Department of Economics, Roma Tre University
Via Silvio D’Amico 77
Rome 00145, Italy

April 22, 2024

Rescuing Firms in a Co-operative Way

We have carried out an empirical study of WBOs in Italy since 1985, describing the role of two key institutions - the legal framework and the cooperative associations. WBO operations were officially recognized in 1985 by the Italian policy-maker. The research has led to establishing a sample, wider than any previously done in Italy, resulting from the analysis of data collected by the Legacoop’s Area Studi and provided by the main actors in the promotion and financing of WBOs (Cooperazione Finanza Impresa, COOPFOND, Federazione Trentina della Cooperazione) and the data published by Banca Etica and the Italian Network of Recovered Companies. This has led to being able to closely study the effectiveness and features of WBOs in Italy. We found that longer lifespans and higher rates of activity are associated with the membership of a cooperative association. The sectoral and geographic analysis confirms the conclusions of previous studies, highlighting a clear concentration of WBOs in the Central and North-Eastern regions of Italy and in the manufacturing sector. The average lifespan of the co-operatives, as well as the survival rate, proves the positive economic and social impact of WBOs in times of crisis. The findings have implications that go beyond Italy. We conclude discussing the importance of an appropriate legal framework supporting WBOs and the importance of cooperative associations, including their financial branches.

Worker Cooperatives Linking Opposition & Alternatives Workplace Democracy cooperative economy Western Europe

Paying for Care

Starting a care service with limited resources is like dealing with a chicken-and-egg problem. You need both care workers and people who need care to get started, but you can't get one without the other; which comes first? We don't have the resources to hire a big team or to promise contracts to care workers right away, so we have to start small and grow slowly. We cannot guarantee care workers will always have enough hours to work. Likewise, we cannot guarantee that people who need care will always have a complete team of workers who can meet all their needs.

"The Role of the Labor Movement in the Solidarity Economy"

You are invited to a panel discussion on the role of the labor movement in solidarity economy hosted by the Solidarity Economy Club at CUNY School of Labor and Urban Studies on Friday, May 10, at 4pm ET (3pm CT / 1pm PT).

Solidarity Economy is an internationalist framework that seeks to unify diverse community-based initiatives toward a values-centered alternative to capitalism. Some of these initiatives include cooperatives, community gardens, land trusts, tenant’s unions, care networks & more.

Food Shed Co-op Opening Day - May 15, 2024!

The Food Shed Co-op is a community-owned grocery store opening in Woodstock, IL on May 15, 2024. We will offer shoppers healthy food choices and the benefits of cooperation to grow a vibrant local community and more eco-friendly world. We will be collaborating with local farmers and suppliers to provide sustainable products, services and education to our community.

The Food Shed Co-op will offer more LOCAL, more ORGANIC and more HEALTHY NATURAL FOODS! Products will be fairly priced and our vendors and staff will be fairly paid.

April 25, 2024

Cathy Statz, Education Director at Wisconsin Farmer's Union

Cathy Statz, Education Director of the Wisconsin Farmers Union (WFU), discusses its origins and history. She also discusses the many programs and initiatives of WFU.

Education Land Tenure & Stewardship Producer Cooperatives local living economies United States

Kenzie Love

Based in Calgary, Kenzie Love has served as CWCF’s Communications  Assistant since 2017. A former journalist, he holds an MA in Journalism from Western University, and is pleased to have the chance to employ his research and writing skills with organizations including CWCF, the Canadian Unitarian Council, and Autism Calgary.

Kenzie has appreciated the chance to learn about worker co-ops in his role with the federation, and has particularly enjoyed the opportunity to connect with worker co-op members across Canada through the member profile series he writes for the newsletter.  He hopes that he can make the worker co-op model better known and understood through his work.

In his spare time, Kenzie enjoys reading, pub trivia, choral music, and going for walks with his dog, Louis.

October 10, 2011

#OWS links--Oct 7-9

April 29, 2024

Fediverse Model Offers Social Media a Second Chance

The Fediverse, as Jakob Sitter Midttun writes, is an ensemble of interconnected – yet independent –  free, open source social media platforms utilizing federated protocols to seamlessly integrate with one another.

News & Media Information Technology Linking Opposition & Alternatives

Many small producers come together in the heart of Sardinia

The story of the Olivicoltori di Oliena cooperative began in 2016 as a natural evolution of an earlier cooperative experience founded in the first half of the last century. A reality that today brings together many small producers from diverse social backgrounds who have decided to combine their know-how in a single productive and valuable context.

The Logic of Non-Reformist Reforms

A strategic orientation and a strategic plan are related but different concepts. 

A strategic orientation refers to the overarching worldview or philosophy that guides actions and decisions toward achieving long-term objectives. It encompasses the fundamental beliefs, values, and goals that drive movement or organizational behavior and shapes its approach to addressing challenges and opportunities in the external environment. Essentially, it defines identity and purpose, setting the direction for all strategic endeavors.

Piloting co-operative care in London: the final quarter

As we enter the last quarter of our LOTI-funded pilot of a care commons in Clapton, our team is shifting focus from recruitment, team building and community mapping to producing a service specification, evaluation framework and playbook for Commons-based care.

Much of our work on the latter is informed by our experience in building this service with the communities we seek to support.  In this blog, I will summarise some of these experiences and explain what work remains to be done.

May 2, 2024

Working the Co-op and Trusting the Land

Yuill Herbert, a co-founder and long-time worker member at Sustainability Solutions Group, joins us to talk about life in an expanding co-op, and the 100-acre land trust he also helped start.

Environmental Justice Solidarity Economy Organizing Worker Cooperatives United States Canada

A ‘Transcender Manifesto’ for a world beyond capitalism.

If this makes sense to you, you may well be working along these lines already – I hope it is encouraging. If it inspires you, then seek out others who feel the same, and rewrite it together. Make it yours. Make it specific. Publish it. Act on it. Forge relations with other groups. Federate and interact across the world.

There is no transcendism, there are no transcenders; this manifesto can only be enacted by groups coming together; designing, seeding and developing networks of transcendent social relations.