Worker Cooperatives and Revolution

Worker Cooperatives and Revolution
Author: Chris Wright
Publisher: Booklocker
Total Pages: 260
Release: 2014-08-20
Genre: History
ISBN: 1632634325

Since the financial crisis of 2008 and the global popular protests of 2011, more people have begun to wonder and speculate: what’s next for civilization? The economic, social, and political status quo seems unsustainable, but what can emerge to take its place? In this book, a historian examines the past and present to argue that the seeds of a more humane society are already being planted, on local and international scales. Whether they will bear fruit depends, ultimately, on grassroots initiative. Focusing on the new worker cooperative movement in the West, this study not only contains the first systematic discussion of the solidarity economy in the light of Marxist theory; it also introduces a major revision of Marxism that both updates it for the twenty-first century and illuminates our historical moment. It includes an analysis of the history of cooperatives in the U.S., showing where they went wrong and how we can correct their past mistakes. It has a case-study of the successful new worker-owned business New Era Windows in Chicago, which has been celebrated internationally for its defiance of conventional paradigms. And it shows a way out of the age-old conflict between Marxism and anarchism, arguing that both are more relevant now than they have ever been. Which is to say: a gradualist “revolution” is, for the first time, within the realm of possibility.

Making Mondragón

Making Mondragón
Author: William Foote Whyte
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 352
Release: 2014-10-15
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 0801471729

Since its founding in 1956 in Spain's Basque region, the Mondragón Corporation has been a touchstone for the international cooperative movement. Its nearly three hundred companies and organizations span areas from finance to education. In its industrial sector Mondragón has had a rich experience over many years in manufacturing products as varied as furniture, kitchen equipment, machine tools, and electronic components and in printing, shipbuilding, and metal smelting.Making Mondragón is a groundbreaking look at the history of worker ownership in the Spanish cooperative. First published in 1988, it remains the best source for those looking to glean a rich body of ideas for potential adaptation and implementation elsewhere from Mondragón's long and varied experience. This second edition, published in 1991, takes into account the major structural and strategic changes that were being implemented in 1990 to allow the enterprise to compete successfully in the European common market.Mondragón has created social inventions and developed social structures and social processes that have enabled it to overcome some of the major obstacles faced by other worker cooperatives in the past. William Foote Whyte and Kathleen King Whyte describe the creation and evolution of the Mondragón cooperatives, how they have changed through decades of experience, and how they have struggled to maintain a balance between their social commitments and economic realities. The lessons of Mondragón apply most clearly to worker cooperatives and other employee-owned firms, but also extend to regional development and stimulating and supporting entrepreneurship, whatever the form of ownership.

Worker Cooperatives in America

Worker Cooperatives in America
Author: Robert Jackall
Publisher: Univ of California Press
Total Pages: 324
Release: 2023-04-28
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0520324765

This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1984.

The Myth of Mondragon

The Myth of Mondragon
Author: Sharryn Kasmir
Publisher: SUNY Press
Total Pages: 268
Release: 1996-01-01
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 9780791430033

This is the first critical account of the internationally renowned Mondragon cooperatives of the Basque region of Spain. The Mondragon cooperatives are seen as the leading alternative model to standard industrial organization; they are considered to be the most successful example of democratic decision making and worker ownership. However, the author argues that the vast scholarly and popular literature on Mondragon idealizes the cooperatives by falsely portraying them as apolitical institutions and by ignoring the experiences of shop floor workers. She shows how this creation of an idealized image of the cooperatives is part of a new global ideology that promotes cooperative labor-management relations in order to discredit labor unions and working-class organizations; this constitutes what she calls the "myth" of Mondragon.

Democracy at Work in an Indian Industrial Cooperative

Democracy at Work in an Indian Industrial Cooperative
Author: T. M. Thomas Isaac
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 276
Release: 1998
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 9780801484155

Beedi workers and the Kerala model -- The making of the Beedi working class -- Solidarity versus retrenchment : the birth of KDB -- From mobilization to efficiency : the role of the central society -- The dynamics of shop floor democracy : empowerment versus supervision in the Beedi primary cooperatives -- Efficiency and profit in the primary societies : KDB's market dilemma -- KDB and the International Movement for Workers' Cooperatives -- Afterword : Tobacco production and diversification at KDB.

Democracy at Work in an Indian Industrial Cooperative

Democracy at Work in an Indian Industrial Cooperative
Author: Richard W. Franke
Publisher: Cornell University Press
Total Pages: 272
Release: 2018-05-31
Genre: Political Science
ISBN: 1501717553

The authors tell the story of a democratic workers' cooperative that makes hand-rolled cigarettes, known as "beedis," in the unorganized sector of a fiercely competitive capitalist economy in India. For decades, beedi workers have been among the most exploited and impoverished of India's work force. In 1969, in the southwestern Indian state of Kerala, several thousand workers banded together to form a worker-owned beedi cooperative. The authors argue that their skill and determination, combined with Kerala's generally leftist political culture, allowed them to beat the odds. The cooperative surprised the private sector beedi barons by creating an enterprise that has lasted and prospered, offering the best wages and benefits in the business, while making a profit and contributing to the local economy.The authors analyze the major features of the cooperative, assessing its overall structure, worker-elected management, shop floor democracy, and progress in providing a better life for its worker-owners. Tensions are also discussed, including the complaints of women workers and the need for diversification from tobacco.

Humanizing the Economy

Humanizing the Economy
Author: John Restakis
Publisher: New Society Publishers
Total Pages: 305
Release: 2010-11-02
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 086571651X

How the largest social movement in history is making the world a better place.

Historical Dictionary of the Cooperative Movement

Historical Dictionary of the Cooperative Movement
Author: Jack Shaffer
Publisher: Scarecrow Press
Total Pages: 646
Release: 1999-08-31
Genre: Philosophy
ISBN: 0810866315

Cooperatives are found everywhere, doing all kinds of things. They are critical elements in the economies of a large number of countries around the world, large and small. Their affairs are carried out by elected leadership that runs the gamut from the illiterate to the scholarly. Their membership is made up of people of all socio-economic backgrounds. It is those members who, through their support and their needs, determine the successes and failures of cooperatives. But cooperatives as a popular movement will also be judged in other ways. A judgment will be made on the totality of their impact: local, national, and international. People will ask about how they helped ameliorate the economic and social problems of the dispossessed. But they will also inquire about their influence on economic systems, whether these were made more humane, egalitarian, and inclusive in their benefits because of cooperative principles and practices. Their impact on the international order will be judged collectively by how they contributed more than resolutions to peace, to justice, and to human inclusiveness. This volume provides snapshot views of the cooperative movement in all its diversity. The only single source one can consult to find so much information on the different kinds of cooperatives, significant figures, including philosophers, pioneers, officials, and leaders, and the situation in a large number of countries. With a list of acronyms, an extensive chronology, appendixes, and a comprehensive bibliography.

The Oxford Handbook of Mutual, Co-Operative, and Co-Owned Business

The Oxford Handbook of Mutual, Co-Operative, and Co-Owned Business
Author: Jonathan Michie
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 705
Release: 2017-03-23
Genre: Business & Economics
ISBN: 0191507989

The Oxford Handbook of Mutuals and Co-Owned Business investigates all types of 'member owned' organizations, whether consumer co-operatives, agricultural and producer co-operatives, worker co-operatives, mutual building societies, friendly societies, credit unions, solidarity organizations, mutual insurance companies, or employee-owned companies. Such organizations can be owned by their consumers, the producers, or the employees - whether through single-stakeholder or multi-stakeholder ownership. This complex set of organizations is named differently across countries: from 'mutual' in the UK, to 'solidarity cooperatives' in Latin America. In some countries, such organizations are not even officially recognized and thus lack a specific denomination. For the sake of clarity, this Handbook will refer to member-owned organizations to encompass the variety of non-investor-owned organizations, and in the national case study chapters the terms used will be those most widely employed in that country. These alternative corporate forms have emerged in a variety of economic sectors in almost all advanced economies since the time of the industrial revolution and the development of capitalism, through the subsequent creation and dominance of the limited liability company. Until recently, these organizations were generally regarded as a rather marginal component of the economy. However, over the past few years, member-owned organizations have come to be seen in some countries, at least, as potentially attractive in light of their ability to tackle various economic and social concerns, and their relative resilience during the financial and economic crises of 2007-2013.

Building Co-Operative Power

Building Co-Operative Power
Author: Janelle Cornwell
Publisher:
Total Pages:
Release: 2014-08-28
Genre:
ISBN: 9781937146467

Building Co-operative Power explores strategies from the Connecticut River Valley as a guide and inspiration for developing a regional co-operative economy based on a vibrant and engaged worker co-op sector. It speaks directly to obstacles and opportunities for making worker co-operatives an increasingly important part of the U.S. economy. The authors relay practical insights on co-op governance, communication, conflict and inter-cooperation. These are highlighted by cautionary tales and sagas of personal transformation.