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In our first New Economy Roundup of 2020, we’re talking about why the resurgence of a U.S. anti-war movement is crucial to building a liberatory new economy, indigenous fire management techniques in Australia, and major policy wins for public banking, worker ownership, and community land trusts in 2019.
Stories From the Field
A New Anti-War Movement: As the U.S. government threatens war with Iran, hundreds of demonstrations have erupted in protest. Across the country, people are decrying the horrific human costs of imperialist wars, connecting the dots between militarism and climate change, and calling for an end to the privatized war economy. NEC members like CodePink have been at the forefront of organizing for peace with Iran — check out their website to find actions near you.
A Solar Boom in Faith Communities: A growing cluster of initiatives affiliated with faith-based institutions are looking to advance their missions of justice by bringing renewable energy to low income communities. NEC member organization Groundswell, for example, has built four solar gardens in partnership with faith organizations in D.C, designed to halve electricity bills for income-qualified households.
Community-owned Media: In Akron, Ohio, The Devil Strip, an alternative weekly paper that covers culture, music and art, is taking a bold step toward sustainability — not through traditional financial avenues, but by offering ownership of the paper to the community. Read about their journey to become a reader-owned co-op via NEC member organization Shareable.
Solidarity Economies Abroad
Cultural Burning in Australia: As Australia's wildfire emergency rages on, conversations are being sparked about the indigenous fire practices that were used to quell bushfires for thousands of years prior to colonization. One family has reported that this kind of cultural burning “miraculously” saved their home outside Sydney. Stories like this are an important reminder that returning sovereignty and land stewardship to indigenous people is key to building climate resilience.
Massive Strikes against Privatization in India: On January 8, a reported 250 million people took to the streets across India to protest the privatization of natural resources and the “anti people, anti labour policies” of the Modi-Shah government. Read more about the strikes, which unions are calling the largest action of this kind in Indian history.
Canadian media co-ops: Last month, Quebec’s Superior Court authorized a plan to transform six bankrupt regional newspapers into employee cooperatives. Read more about the decision and what it means for workers.
System Change magazine highlights a year of bold ideas
In December, NEC member organization the Democracy Collaborative and the Next System Project published System Change, a magazine that captures the groundbreaking work done in 2019 to build a democratic economy. From public power and pharmaceuticals to community ownership and reparations, System Change lays out bold visions for a new economy. Also check out this highlight reel of the most exciting changes in local and state policy that happened in 2019 to support a democratic economy.
Movement News
- 2019 Year in Review: Workers Strike Back
- 2019 was the year of ‘climate emergency’ declarations
- A decade of Black Lives Matter gives us a new understanding of Black liberation
- A Growing Movement Shows There Is an Alternative to Capitalism
- A Native American tribe insulated itself from California’s blackouts by creating a microgrid utility
- Bloomington Fast-Tracks Community Land Trust Strategy for Affordable Housing
- Employee Ownership: The Unsung Path to a Sustainable and Equitable Future
- Field Notes from U.S. Climate Justice Activists at the U.N. Climate Conference (COP25)
- How Economists Tricked Us Into Thinking Capitalism Works
- Native American 'land taxes': a step on the roadmap for reparations
- New Internship Program Fosters Next Generation Of Underwater Farmers
- Oregon Nears Launch of a Solid Community Solar Program
- Pennsylvania House advances bill to promote Employee Stock Ownership Plans
- Taking back democratic power: Why utilities should be owned by us all
- The One-Traffic-Light Town with Some of the Fastest Internet in the U.S.
- The rent in the Bay Area is too damn high. So these moms occupied a vacant house.
- The Threat of War Inflates Stock Holdings of Military Contractor CEOs
- These Posters Show What a Green New Deal Could Look Like
- Top Social Justice Memes of 2019
- Washington Becomes First State to Approve Publicly Funded Long-Term Care
- We Need Broadband Internet for All
Podcasts of the New Economy
The Schumacher Lectures on Apple Podcasts: NEC member organization the Schumacher Center for New Economics just released over 20 hours of recordings from their annual lecture series! Since 1981, the Schumacher Lectures have featured movement leaders and scholars working to build a new economy that is just and recognizes planetary limits. Check out the podcast for a wealth of info on climate justice, food sovereignty, local economies, deep democracy, and more.
Additional Listens:
Radical Imagination: Advancing Peace
NEC on The Gram
Follow NEC on Instagram – @NewEconomyCoalition – We’re back on the gram after two weeks of rest and recharge during the holidays — catch us here in 2020 sharing movement news, member updates, new economy memes, and more!
Job Board
Administrative Manager, Cooperative Fund of New England – Watertown, MA
Assistant Program Manager, Soul Fire Farm – Petersburg, NY
Bookkeeper/Consultant/Educator, A Bookkeeping Cooperative (ABC) – Brooklyn, NY
Climate Justice Organizer, PUSH Buffalo – Buffalo, NY
Communications Coordinator, It Takes Roots – Remote – Deadline Jan 12
Communication Director, The Laura Flanders Show – Brooklyn, NY
Communications Director, Institute for Local Self-Reliance – Various Locations
Communications Manager, Institute for Local Self-Reliance – Various Locations
Communications Manager, California Environmental Justice Alliance
Democratic Entrepreneurship Director, Center for Community Wealth Building – Denver, CO – Jan 31
Director, Divest Ed – Cambridge, MA
Director of Development and Finance, OPAL Oregon – Portland, OR
Economic Justice Organizer, Kentuckians for the Commonwealth – Kentucky
Education Team Coordinator Highlander Center – New Market, TN
Education Team Member and Youth Organizer, Highlander Center – New Market, TN
Food Systems Program Officer, W.K. Kellogg Foundation – SE United States
General Coordinator, Cooperative Economics Alliance of NYC – New York, NY
General Manager, Recompose – Seattle, WA
Lending Director, MACED – Berea; Hazard; Paintsville, KY – Deadline Feb 1
Maintenance Tech, PUSH Buffalo – Buffalo, NY
Managing Director, 18 Million Rising – Oakland, CA/Remote – Deadline Feb 28
Media & Communications Senior Associate, Regions Refocus – New York, NY – Deadline Jan 31
Media & Storytelling Program Officer, Field Foundation – Chicago, IL
Movement Storyteller, Working Partnerships USA – San Jose, CA
Operations Coordinator, Democracy Collaborative – Washington, DC
President, New Media Ventures – Oakland, CA
Program Manager, Decolonizing Wealth, Decolonizing Wealth Project – New York, NY
Project Manager, Racial Equity and the Democratic Economy, Democracy Collaborative – Wash, DC – Deadline Jan 31
Regional Organizer (New England), Resource Generation – Regional – Deadline Jan 26
Regional Organizer (Mid-Atlantic), Resource Generation – Regional – Deadline Jan 26
Social Enterprise Manager, People United for Sustainable Housing (PUSH) Buffalo – Buffalo NY
Tenant Organizer, Metropolitan Council on Housing – New York, NY – Deadline Jan 15
Training and Movement Building Coordinator, Open Buffalo – Buffalo, NY – Deadline Dec 21
Various Positions, Action Center on Race and the Economy – Location is flexible
Various Positions, Color of Change – New York, Washington D.C., Oakland, Los Angeles
Various Positions, Demos – New York, NY
Various Positions, Groundswell
Various Positions, Groundwork Collaborative
Various Positions, Economic Opportunity Institute – Seattle, WA
Various Positions, Institute for Policy Studies
Various Positions, Mothers Out Front
Various Positions, NAACP Legal Defense Fund
Various Positions, National Congress of American Indians
Various Positions, New Economy Organizers Network – London/Manchester, UK
Various Positions, Project Equity – Multiple Locations
Various Positions, RiseBoro Community Partnership – Brooklyn, NY
Various Positions, Sunrise Movement – Multiple Locations
Various Positions, Wellbeing Economy Alliance – Glasgow/Madrid/Remote – Deadline Jan 20
Web Developer, Foundation for Intentional Communities
Upcoming Events
Movement Generation 2020 Justice & Ecology Retreat
A national retreat May 13th – 17th in Occidental, CA that will bring together key movement organizers & actors to explore the depths and connections of the current ecological, economic, and social crises – all towards building a Just Transition to healthy, life-affirming economies. (Jan 12 – Application Deadline)
Challenging For-Profit Models In Climate Policy
Join the Peter Kwong Immigrant Workers Learning Center to take a critical look at current mainstream climate policies and discuss alternative strategies towards effectively combating climate change while creating the conditions for true economic and social justice. The panelists will call into question the impacts and goals when profit margins are prioritized over our pressing ecological and social needs, accelerating the existential and potentially irreversible threats to our communities for the benefit of a few. (Jan 13 – New York, NY)
Iran on the Brink of War: A Teach-In
NEC Member Institute for Policy Studies (IPS) invites you to come learn about the backdrop of events that are moving the U.S. and Iran closer to conflict, the implications of Iraq’s parliament requesting that the U.S. leave their country and how the U.S. assassination of Qassim Suleimani violates international and domestic law and puts peace further out of reach. Panelists will also discuss what is needed to integrate the demand for No War with all our movements and how to push Congress to stand up against the threat of war. (Jan 13 – Washington, D.C.)
San Francisco Business Transition & Employee Ownership Forum
Join the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD) and the San Francisco Small Business Development Center (SBDC) in celebrating San Francisco's newest employee-owned business, Rockman et al, and hear why Saul chose to transition to employee ownership. This event will also include a panel discussion with successful employee-owned Bay Area businesses Recology and Rainbow Grocery Cooperative, with insight as to why they chose employee ownership as a succession plan. (Jan 15 – San Francisco, CA)
Resource Generation: Organizing Family Webinar
However thoughtful and strategic we might be with our own giving and investing practices, our impact on the world — and a future where wealth, land, and power are equitably shared — would be much greater if our families were invited to join us in the work of social change. Whether you’ve never given much thought to convening family before or have already weathered the process, this will be a great opportunity to learn, share, and connect with peers organizing their families for social change. (Jan 15th – Webinar)
Common Future: How to Put Racial and Class Equity First
Rodney Foxworth, CEO of NEC Member Organization Common Future (formerly BALLE) and presenter for this webinar, led his organization in reimagining its mission – which had focused on growing local sustainable and regenerative economies – as one that centers social and class equity. The result is a rebrand to Common Future. During this webinar, hear from Foxworth about the new Common Future and the rebranding and reorientation work that was necessary to give the organization a sharper focus on equity. (Jan 15 – Webinar)
Remaking The Economy in Los Angeles: The Rise of Social Movements
In this webinar, hear from some of the people who are behind LA’s transformation becoming the nation’s leading port and manufacturing city and an exemplar of community-based social, racial, and economic justice organizing. Hear from a panel with three expert speakers: Roxana Tynan, Executive Director of Los Angeles Alliance for a New Economy (LAANE); Isela Gracian, Executive Director of East Los Angeles Community Corporation (ELACC); and Ana Siria Urzua, Sustainability Director of Santa Ana Building Healthy Communities. (Jan 16 – Webinar)
Making the Business Case on Clean Water Issues to the Media
If the new political reality has you itching to speak out in the media, this session is for you. Learn best practices from the front lines organized by NEC member organization the American Sustainable Business Council. Answer questions like how to find and approach journalists interested in what you have to say, how to make the strongest arguments for your policy agenda, how to use your company as proof for how policies affect business and tips to enhance your credibility and confidence. (Jan 21 – Webinar)
US Government Still Spying on Dissent: A People’s Briefing
Institute for Policy Studies invites all social justice activists, organizers, and the general public, to turn out for this “People’s Briefing” to unpack the Fall 2019 report Still Spying on Dissent by Chip Gibbons, Policy Director at Defending Rights and Dissent. Fortify yourself with specific, factual information that prevents government and mainstream media coverage from trying to subvert truth and justice. This briefing will be moderated by IPS Fellow Phyllis Bennis. (Jan 23 – Washington, D.C.)
Transit Equity Day
Check out this toolkit from NEC Member Organization, Labor Network For Sustainability’s in preparation for February 4th’s Transit Equity Day, a collaborative effort of several organizations and unions to promote public transit as a civil right and a strategy to combat climate change. (Feb 4 – Global)
LIFT Economy: The Next Economy MBA
A nine month course for entrepreneurs and aspiring entrepreneurs who want to learn key business fundamentals (e.g., vision, culture, strategy, and operations) from a regenerative, Next Economy perspective. The course will be taught online. Early bird registration before January 10th. (Feb 6 – Oct 15 – Webinar Series)
2020 Sharing Economy Global Summit
The Sharing Economy Global Summit is the most comprehensive source of education, networking and information sharing for the global sharing economy. It offers programming and resources from experts focused on trust and safety, digital identity, screening, payments and fraud prevention, data privacy and cybersecurity, compliance and regulatory, legal and insurance, product, technology and innovation. (February 5 – 6 – London, UK)
View all NEC member events on our website »
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