Democratic Dialog & Deliberation

The networks, organizations, and movements that we generate reflect the quality of our own consciousness in the moment. What does the global state of human consciousness tell us then about the movements that we're capable of building?

I spoke with representatives from The Initiative for Citywide Assembly (Iniciativa mestni zbor – IMZ) about the non-partisan, self-organized municipal assemblies in Maribor, Slovenia that has now been active for 10 years. IMZ shares its rich experiences, offering insights into organizing and facilitation, organizational structure and culture, community, diversity, intersectional activism, and more. 

Only experimentation helps us understand what’s working, and that’s why the bias towards trying something out and getting out of our head, and getting a show on the road is so important.

Dru Oja Jay is joined by Kevin Harding, one of the organizers of a spirited hail-mary attempt to save Mountain Equipment Co-op from being sold off to a US private equity firm.

A Venezuelan cooperative network that recently received the “Alternative Nobel Prize” tells its story.

What Daniel Kahneman, Oliver Sibony, and Cass Sunstein's new book Noise has to offer for decision making in cooperatives.

Much of the discussion on open source's relevance to cooperatives has focused on open, permissive licenses that represent a 'digital commons' (possibly at risk of appropriation). But debate over licensing misses an essential and unique quality of open source: its democratic toolset which is much more sophisticated than resolutions and Annual General Meetings.

Unicorn Grocery is a thriving worker-owned, values-driven grocery co-op using sociocracy for its governance in Chorlton, Manchester, UK. They consist of 71 members who all work within the cooperative and are also the directors of the business.

This webinar brings to life a case example of a worker-owned co-operative in a technical field.

An introduction to cooperative governance and management from the Sustainable Economies Law Center.