This week, John Zippert writes about the life and legacy of the Federation of Southern Cooperatives first Executive Director, Charles O. Prejean.
Then, Cecilia Muñoz Cancela writes about an Argentine cooperative e-commerce platform for selling produce from the social and solidarity economy. Predating any concepts of Platform cooperativism, the project provides an excellent example of organic cross-sector collaboration, bringing together many parts of the local cooperative ecosystem.Â
A Tribute to Charles O. Prejean
by John Zippert
In 1971, Charles relocated the Federation’s major technical and organizing staff to 14 trailers on the land, located between Epes and Gainesville in Sumter County, the westernmost county of Alabama’s Black Belt. He and his young family also moved to the Federation's Rural Training & Research Center (RTRC), where he personally oversaw the construction and development of its facilities and programs.
Lessons from the Chasqui Project
by Cecilia Muñoz Cancela
The case study presented in this report illustrates a unique integration of these elements: an incubation process led by a public university in alliance with the cooperative technology sector and the grassroots organizations in the food sector. Furthermore, it incorporates the impetus and production logics of the free software movement, in coordination with public policies promoting cooperativism and food sovereignty. From a technological perspective, it translates the organizational practices of the social and solidarity economy—such as collectively organized consumption and production modes—into functional and operational terms. Furthermore, it is both developed and maintained by local software cooperatives from the Argentine Federation of Worker Cooperatives in Innovation and Knowledge (FACTTIC).
Avoiding the AI Hypetrain
by Josh Davis
[A] recent report from the group NANDA that surveyed 300 Gen AI initiatives and 156 executives, found that 95% of Generative AI projects produce zero return for the companies adopting them. NANDA is an MIT project to build "AI agents," and as such they have a vested interest in making the technology look as good as possible, which makes their report something that lawyers refer to as 'an admission against interest.'
Iconic Manchester Worker Co-op Celebrates 55 Years
Co-operative News —Manchester’s Eighth Day worker co-operative marks its 55th anniversary in September, with a number of new collaborations and an exhibition charting its history. It was founded in 1970 by “a group of hippies who were looking for an alternative to what they saw as capitalist consumer culture,” says the organisation. The group set up a craft exchange on New Brown Street – where the Arndale Centre now sits – selling homemade crafts and candles...
Federal Workers Are Organizing for Democracy—from the Inside Out
Nonprofit Quarterly — In the face of a relentless effort to dismantle the federal government from within, a new movement is taking shape—led not by politicians or pundits but by federal workers themselves. The largest effort to date is the Federal Unionists Network (FUN). The FUN is offering a direct response to sweeping purges, politicized restructuring, and the hollowing out of public institutions under President Donald Trump’s administration...
It's time for Community Incubators
Solidarity Hall — You could think of the incubator as working like a golden funnel turned on its side. It’s wide-open at one end (which most business incubators are not really) but it channels and directs the flow to particular places—like toward a good job. Or even a new business you co-own. The logical home for a program like this is a community hub. You probably know this kind of place...
Technical Assistance Grants Help With Co-op Conversions
Canadian Worker Co-op Federation — The Canadian Worker Co-op Federation (CWCF) offers technical assistance grants to worker co-ops that are, or agree to become, members of CWCF to hire a co-op developer or other professional to help with a challenge that the co-op is facing. Assistance can be sought in any area needed such as marketing, financial administration, governance, conflict resolution, legal issues, etc...
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