This week we’re talking about Boston’s cooperative economy, social housing in New York, #StopGalamsey in Ghana, transformative justice legacies in India, and more. We’re able to provide stories like these because of the arduous reporting on solidarity economies around the world from journalists and storytellers. This week, Israel accused 6 Al Jazeera journalists of being Palestinian militants at the height of the expanding genocide and occupation. Join the BDS movement’s call to get the UN General Assembly President to remove Israel for their decades long impunity. Read to the end for jobs, events, and resources that strengthen us.

We send a special thank you to everyone who attended to the SE101 workshop. You can expect a separate email with follow up information and resources we mentioned during the call. We’re energized to do more of these workshops to reach beyond the choir to build an economy that works for us. Consider donating to our end of year campaign so we can sustain programs like this!

 

Boston’s ‘Inside Strategy’ for a Cooperative Economy: For years, the Coalition of Worker Ownership and Power (COWOP) campaigned to make the Massachusetts Center for Employee Ownership (MassCEO) a state agency. They’ve also been building working class resilience against precarity through cooperative business development. The federal WORK Act (2022) aims to disburse tens of millions of dollars to employee-ownership centers around the country, and the coalition is making sure they’re not “leaving money and resources on the table that would be vital for our communities.” Read the ‘Cooperatizing Boston’ report to learn how worker owned cooperatives in Massachusetts are changing the landscape for democratic ownership, and their actionable steps toward equity for the city of Boston.

The Housing Crisis is Manufactured: In the face of rent gouging, social housing is answering the needs of people across the country facing unaffordable housing costs. Blackstone is the largest corporate landlord in the world and their rent manipulation tactics are especially displacing Black and Brown renters. Meanwhile, mortgage interest rates are averaging near 7% — with Black borrowers at Bank of America, Citibank and JP Morgan Chase receiving higher interest rates than white borrowers. The New Economy Project is offering non-extractive loans to community land trust projects in NYC, and has already funded $1 million to BIPOC low-income communities. Learn more about the eligibility requirements here and check out our funding library for more funding opportunities to expand social housing.

Mapping Solidarity: Solidarity economy maps are popping up across municipalities to chart ecologies of solidarity. ChiCommons Cooperative just launched a map of more than “800 solidarity entities, cooperatives, and associated resources in the Chicago-area.” Work like this isn’t only a tool for convenience, but sows seeds to grow cooperation and directs people to where they can get their needs met. Check out ChiCommons’ new map, New York’s Seeding Solidarity map, and this nationwide Solidarity Economy map.

“Minerals or Funerals?”: Ghana welcomed in October with country-wide protests against Galamsey illegal mining operations. Despite disorganizing attempts from the opposition, infiltration, arrests and police brutality, the mass mobilization continues in the streets and on social media with #StopGalamsey. Artists in Ghana and across its diaspora are even tagging in to amplify the protest chants for environmental justice and economic democracy. Galamsey has alarming impacts on water systems, freshwater sources, and public health outcomes. Even laborers engaged in the practice face serious health and legal impacts. Galamsey promises quick money, and Ghanians squeezed for cash rely on the practice to afford food and school fees. Protestors are calling for a holistic transition from the deadly mining scheme and brutal criminalization to more employment opportunities for all Ghanians. Learn more about the religious call to end the Galamsey crisis with Okyenhene Osagyefuo Amoatia Ofori Panin, who is encouraging all leaders to recall their religious principles that inform environmental stewardship and climate action.

Community Wealth Building in South Korea: The movement for community-owned assets in South Korea is growing to address widespread wealth inequality. At the end of 2020, local currencies represented the equivalent of $7 billion US dollars, but people are concerned whether this money will be cycled into sustainable community assets like renewable energy. To learn more about how strides are being made to build community wealth and break from“old patterns of wealth extraction,” check out thereport back from NEC member The Democracy Collaborative’s trip to South Korea.

Caste-Oppressed People Reimagining Justice in India: After India’s independence from British rule, the caste system was re-affirmed as an oppressive governing tool set to criminalize Dalit people and other caste-oppressed communities. From displacement caused by land theft to overrepresentation on death row, Dalit people are recalling upon justice practices to restore relationships with each other instead of seeking police intervention. The Criminal Justice and Police Accountability Project, worked with caste-oppressed communities to mediate interpersonal conflicts that were contributing to cycles of criminalization. Learn more about this case-study and other worldwide lineages of transformative justice practice with Interrupting Criminalization’s ‘Transformative Justice Knows No Borders’ zine.

• Being and Building Beloved Community: The Intersection of Culture and Economy
• Better Urban Design Isn’t Enough To Keep Women Safe. We Need Men To Change, Too.
• Biodiversity declining even faster in ‘protected’ areas, scientists warn Cop16
• Can my landlord put an anti-rent control sign on my lawn?
• Detroit People’s Food Co-op: How to Advance Black Food Sovereignty
• Israel accuses 6 Al Jazeera journalists in Gaza of being Palestinian militants
• Meta’s Israel Policy Chief Tried to Suppress Pro-Palestinian Instagram Posts
• Mozambique ruling party declared winner of election marred by killings
• Newark Residents Are Reshaping Who Influences Land Use Decisions
• Rooftop solar and battery storage helped these retirees ride out recent power outages. Why isn’t it more widespread?
• State Assembly member Zohran Mamdani joins Adams’ challengers for NYC mayor
• The Fate of Denver’s Last Slaughterhouse Is on the Ballot
• The Government-Sponsored Enterprise that Turned Away from Its Housing Mission
• The Transformative Potential of a Union–Co-op Alliance
• UK ‘open to discussing non-cash forms of reparatory justice’ for former colonies

 

PODCASTS & VIDEO 

• Disrupt Chaos – Cooperation Jackson and Rosa Clemente
• Farming While Black with Fresh Future Farm – Soul Fire Farm
• Participation with PennElys Droz – Counterstream
• Professor Nathan Schneider discusses the Role Cooperatives Play in Shaping the Next Economy – Everything Co-op
• Reimagined Economies – Scene on Radio: Capitalism
• The Defund Movement in 2024: Frontline Reporters Separate Myth from Reality – Laura Flanders & Friends

PUBLICATIONS 

• Cooperatizing Boston: Advancing Muncipal Support for Worker Ownership – Center for Economic Democracy
• Notes on Civic Science Vol. 1 – Catherine Devine
• The Political Ecology of Colonial Capitalism – Bikrum Gill
• Transformative Justice Knows No Borders  – Interrupting Criminalization
• Flaws in Laws: Challenging Criminalization of Young People’s Bodily Autonomy – Crea

 

Follow NEC on Instagram — @neweconomycoaltion — where we’re sharing how you can become a member of our growing network of solidarity economy workers and organizers. We open membership annually. If you’d like to be considered for this round of new members, please fill out our membership interest form by Oct 31st. Our membership team will review all the submissions and send invites by the end of the year.

7th Street Corridor Manager, East Bay Permanent Realty
Associate Director, Equity Trust
Assistant Director of Co-op Development, UHAB
Bay-Area Organizer, BAJI
Communications and Programs Associate, Land Justice Futures
Director of Organizing, BAJI
Director of Policy & Research, Center for Economic Democracy
Focus Communities Program Administrator, Land Justice Futures
Managing Director of Donor Engagement, Grassroots International
Operations Director, BAJI
Real Estate & Finance Analyst, East Bay Permanent Realty
Staff Attorney, BAJI
Various Positions, Highlander Center

If you’re hiring, consider submitting to The Roundup.
For more opportunities, check out this job board from NEC member Post Growth Institute and this one from the U.S. Federation of Worker Coops!

Virtual Teach-in with Palestinian Feminist Collective
Join the PFC for a teach-in on Palestinian feminist praxis and the past year of an escalated genocide and ongoing resistance. (Oct 25 – Virtual)

Stream Clean Up
Access to clean fresh water is our birthright. Clean water isn’t only an environmental issue, it’s a critical public health issue that impacts our local Black, Brown, Indigenous, and low income communities in Baltimore, Maryland. Streams are often over looked and neglected, and our local streams are crucial for carbon sinking aquatic plants and our access to fishing and swimming in our communities. Join Iyanifa Osunfunmilayo Adeola in collaboration with Envisioning Saftey on Campus for the Hammerman area stream cleanup. (Oct 26 – Middle River, Maryland)

Co-Ops & The Next Economy
Join folks from across Connecticut’s local and regional co-op movement to connect, learn, and strategize around building businesses and an economy that prioritizes people and the planet over profit. (Oct 26 – Hartford, CT)

#BlackTrust: Black Utopias, Then & Now
Presented on the occasion of the launch of Aaron Robertson’s The Black Utopians, this event explores the histories and ongoing legacies of Black utopian movements in America. Robertson will be in conversation with Stacey Sutton, whose latest body of work, Real Black Utopias, examines the infrastructure and ideology of Black-led cooperatives and solidarity economy ecosystems across cities, from Chicago to Boston. As Robertson’s work meditates on how African Americans have envisioned utopia and transformed their lives, this conversation engages with their reflections on liberation, community-building, and radical social projects. (Nov 13 – Boston)

2025 Being the Change: Training for Trainers
Climate Justice Alliance is excited to host our 2nd annual Being the Change: An Intro to Just Transition Training for Trainers on February 11-13, 2025! This training is offered to CJA members who want to strengthen their ability to offer an intro training on just transition to your staff, members or community. (Deadline Nov.15)

NASCO Institute 2024: Mobilizing the Co-op Ecosystem
Since 1977, NASCO’s Cooperative Education & Training Institute has been widely recognized as one of the most important training and networking opportunities available to co-op members, directors, staff, and managers. This year’s theme is Mobilizing the Co-op Ecosystem. At the Institute, co-opers will be exploring how cooperatives are an organizing tool and an effective alternative housing model. (Nov 15-17 – Ann Arbor, MI)

Discover the Benefits of Worker Co-ops
In this webinar, we’ll learn what it means to be a values focused business and practice the cooperative principles. We’ll talk about the basics of starting a worker owned business and look at some examples of start up planning. We’ll also discuss the benefits and challenges worker co-ops face from launching to doing business. (Nov 20 – Virtual)

Facing Race 2024
Facing Race is the nation’s largest multiracial, intergenerational racial justice conference. This biennially, one-of-a-kind space serves as a vital intersection where community organizers, activists, and movement makers converge to build power and strategies to advance racial justice. The conference provides attendees unprecedented access to resources, information, and collaborative opportunities geared towards advancing racial equity for all. (Nov 20 – St. Louis, MO)

Making Money Make Change
MMMC is an intimate space that uses workshops, storytelling, and skill-building to create a space for young people with class privilege and wealth to explore questions of identity and responsibility in a supportive environment. MMMC programming is dynamic and specific to young people with wealth who are interested in social justice. Whether you have been grappling with what it means to have class privilege for some time and value social change, or you are new to thinking about these topics, we invite you to attend and explore these topics in community. (Nov 24 – Nashville, TN)