Cooperative Movement

Democracy at Work Institute Resource Library

The Democracy at Work Institute is building a comprehensive Resource Library that will include a wide range of materials, including academic papers, start-up toolkits, curriculum samples, actual documents from existing worker cooperatives, and more. The topic list below provides a map of the resources that will be available. We are also continuing to publish additional resources on a daily basis.

Debunking Cooperative Myths - Video

6 Common Misconceptions about Cooperatives:
 
#1: "A co-op? That's like ... a hippie grocery store, right?"
#2: Co-ops are Basically All Non-Profits 
#3: Co-ops Aren't Scalable 
#4: Co-ops Have No Structure 
#5: Co-ops Are Only For Rich White People 
#6: Co-ops Don't Have an Economic Impact
 
Recorded for the North American Students of Cooperation (NASCO) Shared Resource Library - http://www.nasco.coop/resources

New Era Windows Cooperative is Now Open For Business - Video

After a lot of labor and learning, the workers who famously occupied the Republic Windows and Doors factory in Chicago in '08 are opening a new cooperative business: New Era Windows. Laura discusses the journey with Brendan Martin of The Working World and three of the worker-owners.To see the full story go to GRITtv.org.

Jessica Gordon Nembhard: Cooperative Economics and Civil Rights Video

What role did economic cooperation play in the civil rights movement? As it turns out, a huge one. This forgotten history is the focus of Dr. Jessica Gordon Nembhard's recent book Collective Courage: A History of African-American Economic Thought and Practice, out in bookstores in May 2014.

The Laura Flanders show streams from GRITtv.org.

Blueprint for a Co-operative Decade

"This document was considered in draft by the General Assembly of the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) in Manchester in October 2012. Following comment and discussion (now reflected in this revised version) the Blueprint was approved by the General Assembly. It is now issued in its final form.  
 
The intention of the General Assembly is that the United Nations International Year of Co-operatives marks the beginning of a worldwide campaign to take the co-operative way of doing business to a new level.

Four Pillars of Cooperative Governance

Four Pillars of Cooperative Governance: A new model grounded in the cooperative difference
by Marilyn Scholl and Art Sherwood
Published in "Cooperative Grocer," Winter 2014
 
"Great leaders demonstrate how to be a force for good in local communities and beyond. Our cooperative heroes—the Rochdale Pioneers—were