Co-operatives

The politics of Cranks: a follow-up

As I said in my last blog post, after I sent an email to the Cranks mailing list we discussed the politics of Cranks in one of our bi-weekly meetings. I haven't been able to post these thoughts up sooner because I have been offline for a month building a roundhouse with Tony Wrench in South West Wales. More on that later, but for now..

The politics of Cranks

(Source)

I have been helping out in Cranks, a community bike workshop in Brighton, since last September. A few days ago I sent the email below to our mailing list about the politics of Cranks. I thought I'd put it online because it reflects some of my current thinking as well as giving an insiders view of Cranks. Yesterday we discussed some of the points in the email in a group meeting. I'll be posting in a few days some of the outcomes from the meeting and my thoughts on them.

Don't hate the media, own the media

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I have written extensively about what is wrong with the mainstream media and the benefits of co-operative ways of working. The article below outlines one of the most interesting alternatives or synergies that I have come across - The Dominion paper based in Canada.

Editing Wikipedia page on workers' cooperatives

Have been editing the wikipedia page on workers' co-operatives. Over the next few years, I will try help make it into a great source of information on workers' co-ops. I've already made some very substantial changes, which will hopefully stay - and be improved upon - over time.

When you search for workers' co-operatives in Google it is the first thing that comes up.

A short history of co-operatives in the UK by Molly Scott Cato

As you can see from my last blog post I am very interested in alternatives to capitalism. Co-operativism is one such alternative. Below is a short history of the English co-operative movement from Molly Scott-Cato in her book Market, Schmarket: Building the Post-Capitalist Economy (which I have put on my list of favourite books of all time). If people are interested in alternatives to capitalism, then I would recommend reading the extract below from chapter 3 below as well as the rest of her book.

Posted in Co-operatives | Environment | Politics ed's blog | read more | 250 reads
Submitted by ed on Wed, 2008-03-05 17:54.

The question of our times

“If, as a politically active environmentalist or campaigner for social justice, one’s answer to the question is they are, indeed mutually exclusive [that capitalism, in whichever manifestation, is in its very essence inherently unsustainable], then one’s only morally consistent response is to devote one’s political activities to the overthrow of capitalism. If one's answer is that they are entirely compatible (that there are no structural, inherent characteristics within a capitalist system that would make sustainability an unattainable goal), then it is morally consistent to pursue sustainable development (as the path that leads to that goal) within and through that capitalist system. And if one's answer is that they are only compatible under certain conditions (it isn't capitalism per se that is at issue here, but which model of capitalism), then the transformation of those aspects of contemporary capitalism that are incompatible with the attainment of sustainability becomes both a moral and a political precondition of being an effective environmentalist or campaigner for social justice.” Jonathon Porritt - Capitalism as if the World Matters - page 87

Posted in Co-operatives ed's blog | read more | 170 reads
Submitted by ed on Mon, 2008-03-03 18:03.

A quick update on workers' co-operatives in Argentina, especially Hotel Bauen

Since mentioning the Argentinian Hotel Bauen workers' co-operative in a previous blog posting there have been some terrible developments. Read the article below for prime examples of the non-stop struggle between labour and capital as well as of the state representing the interests of the capitalist or ownership class.

ZNet Commentary
Hotel BAUEN: Workers without bosses face eviction August 09, 2007
By Marie Trigona

Posted in Co-operatives ed's blog | read more | 514 reads
Submitted by ed on Fri, 2007-08-10 16:47.

Worker-managed co-operatives thriving in Argentina's boom

UPDATE: Also check out this excellent update by Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis on the state of workers' co-operatives in Argentina.

Just read this following article on workers' co-operatives in Argentina and thought I'd post it up here.

The surge of workers' co-operatives after the economic crisis in 2001 is well documented in the film The Take (you can download it here).

Co-operators of the future?

(The Fairtrade shop at Pentrehafod School is run by a pupil workers' co-operative - Source: Times Educational Supplement)

At the recent co-operative congress, I went to a fringe meeting hosted by the UK Society for Co-operative Studies on 'Where are the co-operators of the future to be found?' Kevin McGrother (Young Co-operatives), Kirsty Palmer (Woodcraft Folk General Secretary), Mags Bradbury (Membership Diversity, Co-op Group) and Pam Walker (East of England Co-op Education Dept.) all spoke about their experiences in this field.

Co-operatives UK Congress 2007

Anyone who reads this blog will know about my obsession with co-operatives (especially workers' co-ops). Therefore, it was amazing to attend the national co-operative congress over the last 3 days. I emailed the organisers a few weeks ago telling them that I definitely could not afford the £500 they were asking for attendance by non-member delegates and pleaded with them to let me come for a reduced rate or for nothing (see my email to them at the bottom of this blog). After a multitude of phone calls, the event organiser told me the day before the congress started that it was fine for me to come for free.