Listened to Episode 21: Worker Cooperatives & System Change with Esteban Kelly from TheNextSystem.org

What role can worker coops play as part of a movement for system change?

Really enjoyed this interview with Esteban Kelly of the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives.

Hits some great points like common misconceptions of worker coops (e.g. totally flat structure); the question of ‘get big’ vs ‘replicate’; how coops avoid boom bust cycles.

Interesting distinction of anti-capitalist and acapitalist, that’s a new one on me.

https://thenextsystem.org/learn/stories/episode-21-worker-cooperatives-system-change-esteban-kelly

Listened to Worker Cooperatives Part 2: Islands Within a Sea of Capitalism from Upstream Podcast

The second episode in our Worker Cooperative series takes a deep dive into the Mondragon Cooperative Corporation, the largest network of federated cooperatives in the world.

Another great episode of Upstream. It discusses the coops of Mondragon, and the challenges they faced as they got bigger and brushed up against the global capitalist system. And discusses Cooperation Jackson and their learnings from Mondragon. Emphasises the need for strong political direction in addition to forming coops.

I like the metaphor of islands of coops forming in the sea of capitalism, and eventually they all join up.

https://www.upstreampodcast.org/workercoops2