Solidarity Economy
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An edited, updated excerpt from a Next System Project Podcast with Emily Kawano.
Confidence in our dominant economic system is shaken to the core. The pandemic and the uprisings for racial justice have dovetailed to lay bare the limits and failures of capitalism. The question is: can we do better by constructing a more just and sustainable economy grounded in our better angels — our impulses of love, solidarity, cooperation, mutualism, and compassion rather than narrow self interest and competition. This system would include cooperatives, participatory budgeting, community land trusts, social currencies, and unwaged or non-monetized economic alternatives, such as care work. These are all valuable economic activities not premised on capitalist profit maximization; so let’s embrace them!
Solidarity economy (SE) connects all of these activities as a coherent system. We are committed to looking at what exists across the board, raising awareness and recognizing each other as co-builders of an alternative that is building a better world.
Anybody can practice SE every day. Whether you’re raising children or doing volunteer work or taking care of your elders, you’re engaged in SE. Solidarity economy is a way of being and relating to each other by being kind, compassionate and in solidarity with each other.
Cooperatives are a major backbone of SE, whether we’re talking about worker, producer or consumer cooperatives. Many cities are investing millions of dollars supporting worker cooperatives as a strategy for inclusive economic development. Cooperatives promote economic democracy, local control and ownership.
Wellspring Cooperatives, where I work, has three strategies for cooperative development. We began by leveraging the joint purchasing power of the big institutions like colleges and hospitals. Much like the Evergreen Co-ops in Cleveland.
We have also utilized a more bottom up approach by developing an educational co-op certificate program called Co-op Boot Camp that is open to people who have an idea and are interested in starting up their own co-op.
Our third co-op development strategy is conversions — transitioning a conventional firm into a worker-owned cooperative. This is a huge opportunity, as the “silver tsunami” of baby boomer small-business owners approach retirement without a succession plan. Their option to sell the business to their workers can provide a range of benefits — tax breaks, protecting the business and doing right by their workers.
SE is also well developed in other parts of the world. Portugal and Spain have SE Ministries. There are even more countries that have national framework legislation in support of SE, which requires the government to support SE initiatives. Whether it’s trade, some kinds of subsidies or tax breaks, the bias should be that the government tries to support the development of SE.
Imagine life within the SE where you are a co-owner of a worker co-op within biking distance, though you often work from home. You live in an affordable and diverse co-housing community land trust (CLT), where your kids go to a worker/parent-owned childcare cooperative and the CLT generates its own solar/wind energy. You shop at a co-op grocery store, and grow, prepare and preserve food with the co-housing garden/food crew. You meet many of your other needs — haircuts, healing treatments, home repairs/remodelling, through time banking, bartering, and skill shares. Between self-provisioning and lowered expenses, you can work half time and spend more time with family, friends and in pursuit of your passions. Now, imagine this microcosm is connected up with other SE nodes, including SE value chains. These are SE businesses sourcing inputs, financial services, sales outlets through other SE businesses, using social currencies, etc. The future world already exists. Now is the time to build and connect up the pieces.
Emily Kawano is Co-Director of Wellspring Cooperative and serves as Coordinator of the US Solidarity Economy Network.
Confidence in our dominant economic system is shaken to the core. The pandemic and the uprisings for racial justice have dovetailed to lay bare the limits and failures of capitalism. The question is: can we do better by constructing a more just and sustainable economy grounded in our better angels — our impulses of love, solidarity, cooperation, mutualism, and compassion rather than narrow self interest and competition. This system would include cooperatives, participatory budgeting, community land trusts, social currencies, and unwaged or non-monetized economic alternatives, such as care work. These are all valuable economic activities not premised on capitalist profit maximization; so let’s embrace them!
Solidarity economy (SE) connects all of these activities as a coherent system. We are committed to looking at what exists across the board, raising awareness and recognizing each other as co-builders of an alternative that is building a better world.
Anybody can practice SE every day. Whether you’re raising children or doing volunteer work or taking care of your elders, you’re engaged in SE. Solidarity economy is a way of being and relating to each other by being kind, compassionate and in solidarity with each other.
Cooperatives are a major backbone of SE, whether we’re talking about worker, producer or consumer cooperatives. Many cities are investing millions of dollars supporting worker cooperatives as a strategy for inclusive economic development. Cooperatives promote economic democracy, local control and ownership.
Wellspring Cooperatives, where I work, has three strategies for cooperative development. We began by leveraging the joint purchasing power of the big institutions like colleges and hospitals. Much like the Evergreen Co-ops in Cleveland.
We have also utilized a more bottom up approach by developing an educational co-op certificate program called Co-op Boot Camp that is open to people who have an idea and are interested in starting up their own co-op.
Our third co-op development strategy is conversions — transitioning a conventional firm into a worker-owned cooperative. This is a huge opportunity, as the “silver tsunami” of baby boomer small-business owners approach retirement without a succession plan. Their option to sell the business to their workers can provide a range of benefits — tax breaks, protecting the business and doing right by their workers.
SE is also well developed in other parts of the world. Portugal and Spain have SE Ministries. There are even more countries that have national framework legislation in support of SE, which requires the government to support SE initiatives. Whether it’s trade, some kinds of subsidies or tax breaks, the bias should be that the government tries to support the development of SE.
Imagine life within the SE where you are a co-owner of a worker co-op within biking distance, though you often work from home. You live in an affordable and diverse co-housing community land trust (CLT), where your kids go to a worker/parent-owned childcare cooperative and the CLT generates its own solar/wind energy. You shop at a co-op grocery store, and grow, prepare and preserve food with the co-housing garden/food crew. You meet many of your other needs — haircuts, healing treatments, home repairs/remodelling, through time banking, bartering, and skill shares. Between self-provisioning and lowered expenses, you can work half time and spend more time with family, friends and in pursuit of your passions. Now, imagine this microcosm is connected up with other SE nodes, including SE value chains. These are SE businesses sourcing inputs, financial services, sales outlets through other SE businesses, using social currencies, etc. The future world already exists. Now is the time to build and connect up the pieces.
Emily Kawano is Co-Director of Wellspring Cooperative and serves as Coordinator of the US Solidarity Economy Network.
Wellspring Cooperative
Wellspring Cooperative is a non-profit in Springfield, Massachusetts, which lost its manufacturing base. It is definitely a hurting city—high unemployment, high poverty, facing all those kind of problems. Wellspring Cooperative is working to build a network of worker-owned cooperatives in Springfield’s underserved communities. It’s about job creation and wealth building, so that the worker-owners are able to build their wealth and assets as the businesses grow and prosper.
We have five co-op businesses in our network: Wellspring Upholstery is an upholstery cooperative that serves the institutional market; Old Wooden Windows is a women-owned window restoration cooperative; Jumping Jack Hoops is a hula hoop co-op that makes and sells hula hoops and does workshops for fun, fitness and therapy; Wellspring Harvest is a quarter acre hydroponic greenhouse that grows greens; Greenlove Eco-cleaning is going through the co-op conversion process and has joined our network. Farm Bug is a craft-cannabis co-op that is in formation that is also part of our network. There are other co-ops in the pipeline, including plans to build a national childcare co-op in partnership with three other co-op developers: Co-op Cincy, Cooperation Jackson and Cooperation Santa Ana. Our hope is to have a network of a hundred businesses, employing thousands of people to really shift the economic base in Springfield
We have five co-op businesses in our network: Wellspring Upholstery is an upholstery cooperative that serves the institutional market; Old Wooden Windows is a women-owned window restoration cooperative; Jumping Jack Hoops is a hula hoop co-op that makes and sells hula hoops and does workshops for fun, fitness and therapy; Wellspring Harvest is a quarter acre hydroponic greenhouse that grows greens; Greenlove Eco-cleaning is going through the co-op conversion process and has joined our network. Farm Bug is a craft-cannabis co-op that is in formation that is also part of our network. There are other co-ops in the pipeline, including plans to build a national childcare co-op in partnership with three other co-op developers: Co-op Cincy, Cooperation Jackson and Cooperation Santa Ana. Our hope is to have a network of a hundred businesses, employing thousands of people to really shift the economic base in Springfield
