Worker cooperative A worker cooperative is a cooperative owned and self-managed by its workers. This control may be exercised in a number of ways. A cooperative enterprise may mean a firm where every worker-owner participates in decision making in a democratic fashion, or it may refer to one in which managers and administration is elected by every worker-owner, and finally it can refer to a situation in which managers are considered, and treated as, workers of the firm. Definition of worker cooperative[edit] Many definitions exist as to what qualifies as a workers' cooperative. Workers' cooperatives also follow the Rochdale Principles and values, which are a set of core principles for the operation of cooperatives. Even though there is no universally accepted definition of a workers' cooperative, they can be considered to be businesses that make a product, or offer a service, to sell for profit where the workers are members or worker-owners. Internal structure[edit] History of worker cooperatives[edit]
Foxconn sees latest worker suicide following Chengdu fire｜Economy The latest suicide by a Foxconn employee brings to thirteen the number of such worker deaths since January last year. Picture: Outside Foxconn's Chengdu plant, the site of an explosion last week. (File Photo/CFP) Nearly a week after an explosion at Foxconn's factory in Chengdu, one of the company's employees jumped to his death from his apartment in the local township of Deyuan. The employee, a 20-year-old whose surname is Hou, committed suicide on Thursday morning (May 26) without specifying the reason, said a person familiar with the matter. The latest death is the thirteenth in a string of suicides among Foxconn employees since the first tragedy was reported on January 23, 2010. Gou traveled to the company's Shenzhen factory in person to handle the twelfth suicide case on May 26 last year, since when the company has raised wages and pledged to improve working conditions to limit the damage to its reputation. References: Foxconn 富士康 Terry Gou 郭台銘
Guild socialism Guild socialism is a political movement advocating workers' control of industry through the medium of trade-related guilds "in an implied contractual relationship with the public".[1] It originated in the United Kingdom and was at its most influential in the first quarter of the 20th century. It was strongly associated with G. D. History and development[edit] Guild socialism was partly inspired by the guilds of craftsmen and other skilled workers which had existed in England during the Middle Ages. In 1914, S. The guild socialists "stood for state ownership of industry, combined with ‘workers’ control’ through delegation of authority to national guilds organized internally on democratic lines. Ernst Wigforss—a leading theorist of the Social Democratic Party of Sweden—was also inspired by and stood ideologically close to the ideas of Fabian Society and the guild socialism inspired by people like R. The theory of guild socialism was developed and popularised by G. See also[edit] [edit] G.
"Unsourcing" - does free labour ultimately require free goods too? Crowdsourcing has been discovered by the corporate sector, The Economist tells us, as a great way to turn consumers into free labour. "Unsourcing", is the McKinsey-speak for the method pioneered by Wikipedia (and adopted by openDemocracy). But what are the system-wide implications of this move? A recent ‘Babbage’ column in The Economist writes about the phenomenon of ‘unsourcing’. “Some of the biggest brands in software, consumer electronics and telecoms have now found a workforce offering expert advice at a fraction of the price of even the cheapest developing nation...it is their customers themselves...." Here then is a specific claim that ‘crowdsourcing’, a form of commons-based production that has permitted content such as Wikipedia and platforms such as Mozilla to internet users for ‘free’, simultaneously permits corporations to reduce labour costs (variable capital) therefore boosting profits by essentially laying off paid workers. He adds, Accelerating the Crisis Conclusion
Can co-operatives crowd out capitalism? -- New Internationalist In the eyes of the mainstream media and the high priests of the free market, Argentina just doesn’t get it. This past May, the country was savaged by the international business press for nationalizing the Spanish-owned oil company, YPF. Scarcely mentioned was the fact that Argentina’s oil and gas industry was only ‘privatized’ in the late-1990s under pressure from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and other hardline enforcers of then fashionable neoliberal economic policies. Back in 2001, the knives were out again. Skilled and in control: an Argentine co-op member thins dough for tarts at a recovered bread factory in Buenos Aires. With inflation raging and tens of thousands of workers on the streets, the government finally called it quits, defaulting on its debt and devaluing its currency. It didn’t happen. But a significant part of its success is rooted in Argentina’s rich history of co-operatives. It was by no means an easy road. Radical thinkers Old orthodoxies hold firm
Economists and Democracy by Dani Rodrik Exit from comment view mode. Click to hide this space CAMBRIDGE – I have been presenting my new book The Globalization Paradox to different groups of late. By now I am used to all types of comments from the audience. Lest the message be lost, he then illustrated his point by reminding the audience of “the former Japanese minister of agriculture who argued that Japan could not import beef because human intestines are longer in Japan than in other countries.” The comment drew a few chuckles. But the remark had a more serious purpose and was evidently intended to expose a fundamental flaw in my argument. This criticism reflects a serious misunderstanding of how markets really function. Consider all that is required. Well-functioning markets are always embedded within broader mechanisms of collective governance. Once we recognize that markets require rules, we must next ask who writes those rules. But this scenario is neither relevant nor desirable.
Should I Work for Free? An Overview of Participatory Action Research Purpose of Activity: This activity is designed to challenge the stereotypes that are commonly held about research and researchers in order to reframe research as a process in which everyone can and should participate. Participants will be introduced to the basic philosophy behind Participatory Action Research: that those most impacted by an issue should be able to design and conduct research about their community. By the End of Activity Participants Will: Be able to break down stereotypes about research and expertiseLearn that various types of knowledge exist within the groupLearn that community knowledge and research is critical to changing policy and building power Materials Needed: Paper Writing utensils Poker chips (or pennies, paper clips, or jelly beans) Butcher paper with definitions of types of knowledge Key Terms: Community knowledge Knowledge from experience Academic knowledge Intended Participants: Members and staff of your organization Time Needed: 45 minutes Facilitator Instructions: 1. 2.
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