Tag Archives: Education

Sustainability-Coops Leading the Way

In the 2013 Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade, the ICA authors make the following case: “Quite simply, a co-operative is a collective pursuit of sustainability. Co-operatives seek to ‘optimise’ outcomes for a range of stakeholders, without seeking to ‘maximise’ the … Continue reading

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Power in Purpose: Part 2-Policy Breakout

The first break out group considered the barriers to cooperatives and what policy changes can occur to break down those barriers. My group (and many of the others) focused on three central areas: Education, Awareness, and Incentives. Education needs to … Continue reading

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Worker Co-ops and the American Dream, part 2

Foundations of the American Dream The term, The American Dream, was coined by James Truslow Adams in 1931 in his work, The Epic of America (Adams, 1959; Gupte, 2011; Rank, Hirschl, & Foster, 2014). Adams’ coinage was, perhaps, an attempt … Continue reading

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Can Worker Coops Engage True Rehabilitation?

Last May, I had the opportunity to attend the Canadian Association for Study in Cooperatives. It was held at Brock University as part of the annual Congress of Social Studies and Humanities Research Council. There were, as usual, a number … Continue reading

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Markets Can Be Healthy

As part of my studies this semester, I am reading the English edition of Cooperative Enterprise: Facing the Challenge of Globalization* by Stefano and Vera Zamagni. In their opening chapters, they lead a discussion about the nature of cooperation (from … Continue reading

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Madison Mayoral Candidates Discussing Worker Cooperatives: Let’s Turn Talk Into Action

It appears that worker cooperatives may become an issue in this spring’s mayoral election in Madison, Wisconsin. Incumbent David Cieslewicz is blogging about a community-wide effort to facilitate the forming of worker cooperatives. Challenger and two-time former mayor Paul Soglin … Continue reading

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The Co-operative Index

One of the last workshops of the National Worker Co-operative Conference introduced the Co-operative Index to a United States audience. Before going into the details of this tool, it needs to have a bit of the history explained. In 2005, … Continue reading

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EdVisions Schools–Workplace and Educational Democracy

One of the great treats at a national worker coop conference is to learn about the incredible stories that exist. It is easy, sitting in our cooperatives at home, to imagine a world where we are the greatest thing since … Continue reading

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Worker Co-ops and Workers or All in the Family

This might take several posts to really work through the issues, but the nature of worker coops conjures up visions of a workers’ paradise (and the source of the name for this blog); however, too often conflict rises and worker … Continue reading

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Internal Functioning Rules of Worker Co-operatives

Worker co-operatives, by their nature, focus on the internal dynamics. While this may sometimes devolve into navel gazing that can be dangerous to their ability to compete, the internal functioning of a worker co-operative defines it from ESOPs, partnerships and … Continue reading

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