1. Tue, 01/11/11

    Commons and Cooperatives

    An examination of the worker cooperative as an example of a labour commons. The authors suggest that the radical potential of co-ops can be extended by connecting with other commons struggles.

    In the last decade, the commons has become a prevalent theme in discussions about collective but decentralized control over resources. This paper is a preliminary exploration of the potential linkages between commons and cooperatives through a discussion of the worker cooperative as one example of a labour commons.
    We view the worker coop as a response at once antagonistic and accommodative to capitalism. This perspective is amplified through a consideration of five aspects of an ideal-type worker cooperativism: associated labour, workplace democracy, surplus distribution, cooperation among cooperatives, and, controversially, links between worker cooperatives and socialist states. We conclude by suggesting that the radical potential of worker cooperatives might be extended, theoretically and practically, by elaborating connections with other commons struggles in a process we term the circulation of the common. read more »

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  2. Mon, 31/10/11

    The Cooperative Movement in Century 21

    The cooperative movement was one of the first social movements of modern times, with roots at the beginning of the industrial revolution, and was an integral part of the early labour movement. read more »

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  3. Mon, 31/10/11

    A luta em Oaxaca: a auto-organização do cotidiano

    The fighting in Oaxaca: the everyday self-organization

    The subject of this article is the so-called Commune of Oaxaca, mainly the organizational basis before and after the 2006 insurrection. The author highlights observers’ and participants’ accounts, comparing them with theoretical and political criticism. That experience is understood as a positive movement, able to coalesce several fighting and resistance local traditions into the Popular Assembly of the Oaxaca’s Peoples, owing to the teachers’ grass-roots militancy, which stimulated popular self-organization. read more »

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  4. Wed, 26/10/11

    Introduction: Solidarity Economics – emancipatory social change or self-help?

    Crisis-prone economic development, which we can understand with Mandel (1980) as following long waves of alternating periods of high and low growth, seems to correlate with a similar cycle of declining and growing interest in alternative economics. As reflected by a growing number of publications (Singer 2002; Wallerstein 2002; Albert 2003; Altvater/Sekler 2006; Gibson-Graham 2006; Santos 2006; Vilmar 2008) and activist conferences (Eid 2003; Embshoff/Giegold 2008), we can observe that economic crises encourage debates about alternative forms of organizing economies and societies. read more »

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  5. Tue, 25/10/11

    Oh Sit Down!

    Accounts of sitdown strikes and workplace occupations in the UK and around the world. Compiled by libcom.org - a resource for discontented workers, 2008

    Table of contents
    2001: Brighton bin men's strike and occupation
    2000: Cellatex chemical plant occupation, France
    2007: Migrant workers' occupation wins, France
    2004: Strike and occupation of IT workers at Schneider Electrics, France
    2008: 23 day long occupation of major power-plant in northern Greece ends in police repression
    1972: Under new management - Fisher-Bendix occupation
    2003: Zanon factory occupation - interview with workers, Argentina read more »

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  6. Mon, 24/10/11

    The Occupation at Briant Colour Printing

    Occupations in Britain in 1970s

    Among the many occupations that took place in the early 1970s the occupation at Briant Colour Printing (BCP), a print shop situated on Old Kent Road in South London, stands out as one of the most prolonged and also one of the most successful ones. The occupation lasted more than a year, from 21 June 1972 until 3 July 1973.

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  7. Mon, 15/08/11

    Labour process and decision-making in factories under workers’ self-management: empirical evidence from Argentina

    The turn of the century found Argentina in a state of economic and political turmoil. On the one side, the economic downturn experienced by the country between 1998 and 2002, by leaving hundreds of companies in a situation of bankruptcy and thousands of wage-workers facing the prospect of unemployment, threatened the livelihoods of the subaltern classes as a whole. On the other side, the combination of instability in the political alignments and divisions in the ruling elite with a process of popular mobilisation, led to the social upheaval that brought down the Government in December 2001. In this context, thousands of workers gradually began to take control of the machinery, buildings and installations of the factories in crisis or abandoned by their owners, and restarted the production as a mean to guarantee their survival. The occupations were thus originated as a defensive action against job losses in the midst of massive unemployment (Martínez & Vocos 2002) … read more »

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  8. Fri, 12/08/11

    Worker control and factory occupations, global South and North; Pt. I

    The past decade has witnessed a dramatic expansion in worker factory occupations with a range of goals, including the creation of worker self management and control with the goal of bringing greater democracy to the economic decisions that directly affect their lives. The panel examines recent factory occupations and efforts to establish worker control, evaluating a range of opportunities and impediments. How resilient is the worker control movement and the expanding defiance of capital and the state? read more »

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  9. Fri, 12/08/11

    Worker control and factory occupations, global South and North; Pt. II

    The past decade has witnessed a dramatic expansion in worker factory occupations with a range of goals, including the creation of worker self management and control with the goal of bringing greater democracy to the economic decisions that directly affect their lives. The panel examines recent factory occupations and efforts to establish worker control, evaluating a range of opportunities and impediments. How resilient is the worker control movement and the expanding defiance of capital and the state? read more »

    Media: 
  10. Mon, 08/08/11

    5 Factories – Worker Control in Venezuela

    In their second film regarding political and social change in Venezuela, after “Venezuela from Below”, Azzellini and Ressler focus on the industrial sector in “5 Factories–Worker Control in Venezuela“. The changes in Venezuela's productive sphere are demonstrated with five large companies in various regions: a textile company, aluminum works, a tomato factory, a cocoa factory and a paper factory. The workers are struggling for different forms of co- or self-management supported by credits from the government. “The assembly is basically governing the company”, says Rigoberto López from the textile factory “Textileros del Táchira” in front of steaming tubs. And machine operator Carmen Ortiz summarizes the experience as follows: “Working collectively is much better than working for someone else–working for someone else is like being a slave to someone”.

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