Sad but true... As an outsider to the coop movement I've been involved in a variety of discussions/processes around establishing coops concerning the ownership of local technology (ICT) infrastructures/applications both in N Am and in several Less Developed Countries.
Invariably these have come to naught, not because of the philosophy which everyone seemed to agree with but because of either the overwhelming cost/energy involved in working one's way through the legal maze of having an "official" coop or alternatively attempting to shoehorn an existing informal structure that works into a formal legal structure as required by legislation which doesn't work. Not sure what can be done about this as the legal structures are often framed the way they are in response to business lobbyists who want coops to fail. Mike -----Original Message----- From: [email protected] [mailto:[email protected]] On Behalf Of Sally Lerner Sent: Thursday, June 24, 2010 3:07 PM To: [email protected] Subject: [Futurework] How about cooperatives? Now that Ray has energized the list (and reminded us that music is often the best solace), what potential do any/all of you see in re-examining co-operatives (i.e.producer, consumer, worker, credit unions) as possible roads to better ways of organizing lives (while we await the advent of basic income and the bit tax, of course). I've been digging into recent literature and examples (e.g. the Cleveland Model in the U.S.), finding some useful analysis of why co-ops are good, especially in crises, why they have trouble starting up and surviving, what can be done to address the problems, etc. etc. --good stuff, definitely stimulates hopeful thoughts. Which I need day to day to counter the sick feeling from the BP disaster - a whole ecosystem and culture -- and way of life -- wiped out. Check google and amazon for a wealth of material on co-operatives. Is this a path worth re-visiting? Is Mondragon still relevant for the future of work? What think all of you? Cheers, Sally _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework _______________________________________________ Futurework mailing list [email protected] https://lists.uwaterloo.ca/mailman/listinfo/futurework
