News & Resources

New Economy Roundup: Reparations, Guerilla Localism, and Chicago’s Anchor Institutions

Mar 1, 2018 | New Economy Roundup

This week we’re talking about an online map promoting person-to-person reparations, Preston, UK’s guerilla localism, and what makes a great sharing city.

P.S. We’re hiring! Check out the Member Engagement Manager position on the job board.


Stories From the Field

Food Justice: A new online map, the Black-Indigenous Farmers Reparations Map, aims to promote “people-to-people” reparations specifically to farmers of color. The project stemmed from a tense exchange at a food conference where columnist Mark Bittman dismissed a young farmer's question on race. Read more about the project here.

Net Neutrality: The Senate is currently one vote away from repealing the net neutrality ban (find out how to call your representatives here), but it looks like states might be able to enforce their own net neutrality laws after all. FCC chairman Ajit Pai had said the ruling would preempt any local laws, read why that might not be in their power to do here.

Anchoring Health: Nine health care institutions in Chicago are collaborating to streamline their hiring processes and coordinate their investing, purchasing, and volunteer efforts on the West Side – where the life expectancy is 16 years less than downtown. Check out their work here.


Solidarity Economies Abroad

Guerilla Localism: When a banking crisis hit the town of Preston, UK, itleft the community wrought with disinvestment. Since then, Preston has adopted a method of “guerrilla localism,” opting for public utilities over privatization, helping develop worker co-ops, and even instituting the first Living Wage north of England. Read about their work here.

What’s Ownership?: Linguists recently discovered a new language in Malaysia that reflect a culture that was relatively egalitarian and had no words to denote ownership. The vocabulary reflects a society where responsibilities were shared and where there was no adversarial justice system. Read more about the Jedek language here.

Sharing Cities: What makes a good sharing city? Democratic participation, community, jobs. And Berlin has it all. Here’s why.


Resource: Worker Co-ops — A Solution for an Economy in Crisis

How has the worker co-op movement grown in the last few years? What are its success and challenges?

We are standing at a pivotal time for the political and economic future of the country, and worker cooperatives are a solution to many of country's issues. These businesses that are owned and governed by their employees represent an opportunity to build good jobs, strengthen the community, and empower workers.

In this online panel from NEC, the U.S. Federation of Worker Cooperatives, the Democracy at Work Institute, and the Democracy Collaborative, we’ll beyond the basics of co-ops into the tangible, rapidly growing efforts to grow worker cooperatives across the United States. Watch.


Movement News

Job Board

Movement Engagement Manager, New Economy Coalition (Remote or Cambridge, MA)
Senior Associate for Next Systems Communications, Democracy Collaborative (Washington DC)
Senior Program Associate, Engaged Practice Division, Healthcare Engagement Program, Democracy Collaborative (Washington, DC)
Development and Communications Manager, Greenwave (Brooklyn, NY)
Multiple Positions, Urban Justice Center (New York City)
Developer (2), Position Development (Brooklyn, NY)
Call for Pitches from Producers, Disaster Collectivsm Podcast at Shareable (Remote)
Culture Strategy Director, Forward Together (Remote or Oakland, CA)
Multiple Positions, Beneficial State Foundation (Los Angeles, Oakland, Fresno, CA)
Legal Cafe Director, Sustainable Economies Law Center (Oakland, CA)

Upcoming Events

Mad Maps

Mad Maps are wellness documents that help us to navigate our emotional terrains, particularly as they relate to issues like oppression and trauma. In our Mad Maps workshop participants examine the way oppression impacts our perspectives and experiences of mental health, and explore non-judgmental approaches to emotional wellbeing, as well as build strategies for coping with and transforming individual struggles, especially in the larger context of social injustice. The insights and tools provided are all developed for and by Icarus Project members. (Online, March 4)

Fundraiser for the Boston Ujima Project

Boston Ujima Project is organizing business owners, neighbors, investors, and philanthropists to create a community-controlled economy in Boston, and to return wealth to working class communities of color. While Ujima’s vision is centered around a democratic investment fund, the organization needs more than investment dollars to build the structure and culture that will make this vision possible. As Ujima prepares to launch a fund in the Spring, your financial contributions will be essential in empowering Ujima to pay a team of staff, meet technological needs, and hold educational and cultural events. Your support will enable Ujima to host the Neighborhood Assemblies that will guide their democratic investment process, and build a robust community ready to transform the way we invest in each other. (Boston, MA, March 15)

Introducing Solidarity Economy

Asian American Solidarity Economies presents the 2018 Solidarity Economy Webinar Series. The first of five webinars will introduce the framework of solidarity economy, its history and contemporary practice, and examples in the Asian American immigrant and refugee experience. Speakers include Emily Kawano of US Solidarity Economy Network and Julia Ho of Solidarity Economy St. Louis. Facilitators include, Yvonne Yen Liu of Solidarity Research Center and Parag Khandhar of Asian American Solidarity Economies. (Online, March 19)

CommonBound
On June 22-24, 2018, over 700 people across the new economy movement will come together in St. Louis, MO for CommonBound 2018 to connect with one another, share our resources, and demonstrate our power in creating systems that truly meet the needs of our communities. In past years, CommonBound has answered the questions of what is a new economy, why do we need one, and who is it building it. Next June, CommonBound will connect these threads and focus on another question: How do we build a new economy? Registration opens in March. Scholarships available. (St. Louis, MO, June 22 – 24)

View all NEC member events on our website »

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