Humans have always co-operated with each other. And formal co-operatives have been around almost since the emergence of the modern corporation, creating structures where people can work together for mutual benefit and the benefit of their communities. In this episode, Kate and Mark start by thinking about the history of the co-operative movement and its influence on co-ops today.
They are joined by Mark Simmonds from Co-op Culture, and together they explore some of the nuances of co-operation in the UK today, from worker co-ops to community and consumer co-ops. We talk about the different structures and practices that are available to us, and some of the pitfalls and opportunities of working co-operatively, and explore the role of the labour movement and unions in the co-operative world.
Resources:
Read the article accompanying the episode here.
* Mark’s organisation: Co-op Culture
* History of the co-operative movement (wikipedia)
* Federation of UK Worker Co-operatives
* Heptonstall Community Assets
* Minimum viable product thinking
* A quick guide to the different types of co-ops
* The Labour Government’s promise to double the size of the co-op sector
* Cybernetics and Viable Systems Model
* Corporate Bodies Episode 2 on balancing power and responsibility
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Presenters:
Kate Swade (she/her), independent organisational development and governance consultant
Mark Walton (he/him), Founder and Director, Shared Assets
Interviewee: Mark Simmonds (he/him), Co-operative and Community Business Advisor, Co-op Culture
Editor: Katie Revell (she/her)
Artwork: Hanna Norberg-Williams (they/them)
Supporters:
The series is supported by the Centre for the Understanding of Sustainable Prosperity (CUSP), which is a cutting edge research organisation based at the University of Surrey. CUSP explores the question: What does prosperity mean in a world of environmental, social, and economic limits? For more details, visit cusp.ac.uk.
