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Catalyzing worker co-ops & the solidarity economy

Democratic Dialog & Deliberation

August 26, 2024

The Fluidity of Community Values & the Permanence of Community Buildings

I have some things to say about the role of common values in communities, about how to think about community buildings (as distinct from private dwellings), and about how the one relates to the other.

July 22, 2024

How to Start Participatory Budgeting in Your City

Has your city been making cuts to schools, libraries, firefighters, and social services that you are not happy with? Think you could do a better job managing the budget? There is a way in which  you can have that opportunity through a process called “participatory budgeting (PB).”

June 20, 2024

Worker Co-op Findings from the Cooperative Governance Research Initiative

Join Courtney Berner and three worker co-op members for a deep dive into worker co-op governance practices and the trends that are shaping them.

Citations

Michael Johnson (2024).  If this Is Us at 20, What Could We Be at 40?.  Grassroots Economic Organizing (GEO).  https://geo.coop/articles/if-us-20-what-could-we-be-40

June 13, 2024

If this Is Us at 20, What Could We Be at 40?

My main work over the past 44 years has been about figuring out how we can consciously develop democracy all over this country. This has included 16 years of active involvement with the cooperative/solidarity economic movements. I believe that bringing this developmental perspective to the cooperative movement can be a rich and productive way for celebrating the 20th birthday of the USFWC. 

February 19, 2024

May First Movement Technology: Digital Radicalism

Resistance in the digital environment demands that we center our values, intentions, and dreams, focusing on other ways to live, be, and know. May First Movement Technology is a cooperative (primarily based in the United States and Mexico) that aims to put these values into practice: digital media that supports social struggles and grassroots movements working to create the world we know is possible.

January 29, 2024

Scaling a Co-op Beyond 100 Members

A look at how a worker co-op with 140 members, a flat pay scale, and no hierarchy functions.

Hammer preparing to pound in a screw.
January 23, 2024

Doubts About "DAO Tooling"

DAO tooling is a poor fit for co-ops (and everyone else too).

January 11, 2024

Why I Never Say "Compromise" When Facilitating

As a consensus facilitator, I am constantly trying to make it easier for everyone to contribute what they have that's relevant to the conversation. Then I do what I can to establish how those contributions are rooted in a reasonable interpretation of group values (and therefore worthy of taking into account), as distinct from personal preferences. 

November 9, 2023

Using Sociocracy to Support Harmony and Connection

Through sociocracy you can design feedback systems so everyone in your community knows what is going on and can be heard on matters that affect them. In this webinar, recorded on December 2022, Sociocracy for All’s Ted Rau and Jerry Koch-Gonzalez share in dept knowledge about using consensus to foster a sense of harmony and connection in your group.

August 21, 2023

Ecology Councils: Grassroots Climate Strategies from Mesopotamia

In different parts of Mesopotamia environmental movements have been feverishly nurturing the emergence of the grassroots institution of the ecology council for the preservation of communal livelihoods.