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Catalyzing worker co-ops & the solidarity economy

solidarity economy

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February 16, 2023

Building, Here and Now, The World We Yearn For

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Summary

Cecosesola is established in Barquisimeto, capital of the state of Lara, located in the central-western region of Venezuela, as a cooperative integration organization that has been established since 1967. It is a meeting space where we make active life of more than 50 organizations, integrated into a network for the production of goods and services that brings together more than 20,000 associates from popular sectors. Through this network, we develop a wide variety of activities such as: agricultural production, small-scale agro-industrial production, funeral services, transportation, health services, financial services, mutual aid funds, distribution of foods and household items. We are made up of about 1,300 associated workers who manage daily activities through participation that is open to everyone, without hierarchical positions.

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February 9, 2023

'News from Nowhere' – Building Communal Life in Venezuela

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What makes communes and their advances so important? To explain their significance, one has to appeal to something that is not immediately visible: social relations and especially relations of production.

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January 19, 2023

Black Feminists in the Third Sector

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Many countries in the Global North use the term “social economy”—also known as the third sector—to describe economies run by citizens rather than by state or business actors. Over the years, many Black feminist scholars that we have worked with also share the view that the concept of the “social economy” is limited to a European understanding. It fails to acknowledge those actors in the third sector who are excluded from interacting with the government or private sector. There is an assumption that the social economy is “socially inclined” and that it is a sector able to “interact” with the state and capitalist firms. What happens when certain groups of people cannot interact with the state or private sectors due to systemic exclusion? We argue that to transform literature on the social economy, we must use the term solidarity economy. Rejecting the sanitized language of the social economy, we use critical discourse and case study analyses to show the worldwide use of the term solidarity. Our work draws on theories of community economy intentional community to argue that the solidarity economy is a site of contestation and a way to push for social change.

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January 17, 2023

Rojava-U.S. Co-op Exchange

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This is the 10 December 2022 phone bank and exchange between Americans and Rojava cooperator Kraker.

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January 9, 2023

Latin American solidarity economies demonstrate the power of the people

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Solidaristic principles prove great in theory, but how do they hold up in practice? Specifically, in communities facing historical divestment and disenfranchisement, can mutualism and cooperativism serve as building blocks for crafting more equitable, sustainable economies and societies? 

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October 6, 2022

Cecosesola of Venezuela Wins Right Livelihood Award!

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Venezuelan cooperative network Cecosesola has won the 2022 Right Livelihood Award.

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August 8, 2022

How to Start a Bike Kitchen

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August 1, 2022

The History of African American Cooperative Eco-Systems

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In this session, Jessica Gordon-Nembhard will discuss the history of African American mutual aid and cooperative economics, Black cooperative economic thought, the most prolific periods in the US African American Cooperative movement, and contemporary and previous examples of worker-owned cooperatives, lessons learned, and the way forward.

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July 28, 2022

Cooperative Enterprise and Market Economy

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Translator's introduction and preface to Louis Razeto Migliaro's book, Cooperative Enterprise and Market Economy.

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May 31, 2022

Book Review: Concepts for a Democratic and Ecological Society

Summary

Yavor Tarinski’s Concepts for a Democratic and Ecological Society challenges your mind on the most significant questions such as direct democracy, de-growth, solidarity economy, and libertarian municipalism.