Author Archives: Bernard

The Brits love co-ops

From the Guardian, a thorough report on the rise of interest in cooperative solutions from all the major political parties: “WHY CO-OPERATIVES ARE COOL AGAIN” All the main parties want workers to co-own and run public services as social enterprises, … Continue reading

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Worker Cooperatives – a viable economic alternative?

A brief report on the CCCD California Cooperatives Conference April 2010 A multi-million dollar network of worker cooperatives in Cleveland, a successful alliance of Latina cooperatives in the Bay Area, and a worker cooperative store selling farm-direct food in West … Continue reading

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Shoving utopianism in the closet

At the end of last October the United Steelworkers (USW) and the Mondragon Co-operative Corporation, located in the Basque area of Spain, announced an alliance to explore joint projects in the United States. The Mondragon co-operatives are a diverse, transnational … Continue reading

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Co-ops at center of coming elections in Great Britain

Co-ops at center of coming elections in Great Britain Are British politicians proposing to alleviate austerity by creating co-operative public services? In Great Britain this spring, the Labour Party, in power for thirteen years, is threatened with electoral defeat by … Continue reading

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Cooperation and Human Nature

The New York Times published an article on childhood behavioral studies, among related research, that reveals a more positive and nuanced view of our biological heritage than the Social Darwinist promoted. However the article leaves a lot to be desired … Continue reading

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Mondragon: What relevance for US cooperative development?

A recent weeklong conference in Sonoma, California – The Economics of Peace – featured a day devoted to lectures and workshops on the cooperatives associated with the Mondragon Cooperative Corporation (MCC). This event marks the third occasion in the last … Continue reading

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Health care co-ops

All of us who have some connection to the co-op community have been scrambling to respond to the current national discussion about health care plans. As the so-called public option slips from the White House agenda and the notion of … Continue reading

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Greetings from Bernard

Thank you John for the invitation to join you in The Workers’ Paradise. It has been my intention to journey there since I was awakened to the possibility in the 60’s! It seems appropriate for me to introduce myself. I … Continue reading

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