Memory moves us as surely into the realm of what shall be as it moves us back to what has been: by extracting what is indeterminately lasting from the latter, it allows the former to come to us. --Edward S. Casey¹

Why Do Some Worker Co-ops Succeed While Others Fail?
The Role of Internal and External Social Factors.[*]

Frank Lindenfeld and Pamela Wynn, Bloomsburg University, PA

Report on the Rosa Luxemburg Foundation Conference, Berlin Germany, November 3-5, 2011

Is the time right for worker-owned enterprises to socialize or nationalize traditional businesses to create a more humane economic system?

That and other questions were debated at an international conference on cooperatives and advocates of worker self-management and control.

(EDITOR’S NOTE: This article emerged out of conversations Michael had with Terry Mollner and his thinking about creating institutions grounded in the idea the common good. Terry’s book, The Love Skill: We Are Mastering the 7 Layers of Human Maturity, explores these ideas in depth. It will be out in May of this year. He has written a lot on the Mondragon Cooperative experiment, which can be accessed at www.trusteeship.org).

My Co-op Rocks Video Contest

Dates to be announced
 

The International Year of the Cooperative is inspiring people in many ways. A month after the official UN declaration, cooperative organizations in Pittsburgh, including The East End Food Cooperative, Ujamaa Collective and those interested in starting cooperative organizations, gathered at The Big Idea cooperative bookstore for kick-off program.

What Steps Will You Take to Observe the International Year of Cooperatives?

Over the past year, staff of the National Cooperative Business Association has traveled the country talking with members and staff from cooperatives of all types, across all sectors of the economy. The topic has been how to take advantage of the marketing opportunity that is the International Year of Cooperatives. I’m writing here to talk about what’s being planned and what is available to cooperatives—but also to discuss the importance of marketing in and of itself.

Support Passage of the National Cooperative Development Act!

Adapted by Ajowa Nzinga Ifateyo from Global News Hub, thenews.coop and 2012.coop

Permanent link to this article: http://geo.coop/node/585

By Traci Kuratomi, current Fulbright Fellow in Argentina

Permanent link to this article: http://geo.coop/node/584

By Christina Clamp, GEO collective member

By Len Krimerman, Willimantic Inter-Cooperative Zone (WICZ)

Permanent link to this article: http://geo.coop/node/580

Weaving the Fabric of Solidarity Economies: Examples from across the Americas

Analyzing & Debating a New Economy from the Perspective of Workers & Self-management

Mexico City, June 9-11, 2011

Permanent link to this article: http://geo.coop/node/453

(Editor's note: This is the start of a new series by Erin Rice. Erin is a cooperative educator living in Louisiana. She will report on grassroots economic activities in the south, analyze conditions, and sometimes editorialize. Erin can be reached at 413-522-3319 or erinjrice@gmail.com. She is always looking for new tips and leads.)

Report 1, March 10, 2010