Wonderful article! Many thanks. I’ve been fascinated by co-ops and researched the various models a few years back for a novel I’m working on. It’s such a compelling article for human development and environmental protection. We know the capitalist system destroys the earth, exploits workers, and increases the wealth gap. Growth at any cost is not sustainable.
I'm guessing you came across cooperative housing, too? I found a good article on cooperative housing in Liverpool, it was apparently a really big deal just after the 1970s. When I first became passionate about forest gardens, the first one I visited was run by the residents of a cooperative house. Part of it was given over to their nursery plants.
Thank you, Julie! I'm intrigued now by your novel 🧐
I’ve been interested in co-housing for so long but my husband isn’t, so there’s that. I was mostly looking at cooperatively worker-owned farms and businesses, on the Emilia-Romangna models. But the U.S. has a wide range of ownership models. My novel is on the back burner for the moment while I work on short stories.
Yes, tell us more about the novel, too. I've signed up to UK co-housing network newsletter, but I suspect I'll never make the move. 'green growth' is getting bandied about a lot but, yeah, degrowth is both more reasonable and more likely.
I absolutely agree with this too. 'Growth' is the problem, and not just economic, there are issues around the whole 'self-growth' prods we've experienced too.
We've had lovely co-op supermarket HISBE around here for a couple of years. But a series of events means that it's now shut and we don't know if it'll re-open. First lockdowns, then lengthy roadworks making their street inaccessible, then austerity crisis have hit hard. SUMA was a key brand in here. But also tiny local indie producers (like the Sussex peasant, Barnaby ferments). Profits here were used for social investment, such as projects for unhoused folks or for people coming out of the prison system. We miss them very much and hope for some kind of upturn in our local economy that would encourage people to get out and support them. It's estimated that if everybody spends a fiver a week in local indie businesses, it has enormous positive impact. https://hisbe.co.uk/
There's a bit of concern about a street in a nearby town being closed for so long too due to roadworks. Portugal still has a lot of small independent businesses, it's one of the things I love about the country, but they are facing the same issues, including competition from non-Portuguese chains.
Wonderful article! Many thanks. I’ve been fascinated by co-ops and researched the various models a few years back for a novel I’m working on. It’s such a compelling article for human development and environmental protection. We know the capitalist system destroys the earth, exploits workers, and increases the wealth gap. Growth at any cost is not sustainable.
I'm guessing you came across cooperative housing, too? I found a good article on cooperative housing in Liverpool, it was apparently a really big deal just after the 1970s. When I first became passionate about forest gardens, the first one I visited was run by the residents of a cooperative house. Part of it was given over to their nursery plants.
Thank you, Julie! I'm intrigued now by your novel 🧐
Definitely. There are co-op apartment complexes in NYC from the 19th and early 29th century. This is a fascinating article about them. https://cooperatornews.com/article/a-history-of-cooperative-housing-in-nyc
I’ve been interested in co-housing for so long but my husband isn’t, so there’s that. I was mostly looking at cooperatively worker-owned farms and businesses, on the Emilia-Romangna models. But the U.S. has a wide range of ownership models. My novel is on the back burner for the moment while I work on short stories.
Yes, tell us more about the novel, too. I've signed up to UK co-housing network newsletter, but I suspect I'll never make the move. 'green growth' is getting bandied about a lot but, yeah, degrowth is both more reasonable and more likely.
I absolutely agree with this too. 'Growth' is the problem, and not just economic, there are issues around the whole 'self-growth' prods we've experienced too.
Yeah, any growth without limits isn’t sustainable. Which is pretty much how our whole economy operates. 😢
Thanks for asking. The description in your bio -- issue-driven and character-based -- is a great summary of my novel as well. We should chat sometime!
So interesting—serendipitous?—how things come our way. Great post.
Thank you, Jeanine.
I've been quite surprised by the serendipity in my inbox too. Happy it had that effect.
Sometimes the cookie crumbs on the path lead us in the right direction (or maybe always, just got to go with it).
Maybe always!
We've had lovely co-op supermarket HISBE around here for a couple of years. But a series of events means that it's now shut and we don't know if it'll re-open. First lockdowns, then lengthy roadworks making their street inaccessible, then austerity crisis have hit hard. SUMA was a key brand in here. But also tiny local indie producers (like the Sussex peasant, Barnaby ferments). Profits here were used for social investment, such as projects for unhoused folks or for people coming out of the prison system. We miss them very much and hope for some kind of upturn in our local economy that would encourage people to get out and support them. It's estimated that if everybody spends a fiver a week in local indie businesses, it has enormous positive impact. https://hisbe.co.uk/
There's a bit of concern about a street in a nearby town being closed for so long too due to roadworks. Portugal still has a lot of small independent businesses, it's one of the things I love about the country, but they are facing the same issues, including competition from non-Portuguese chains.
I’m sorry to hear this. Once you know the alternative, it’s hard to go back.