International Newsletter on Sustainable Local Development
Newsletter #60
July 1st, 2009
Summary
Message from the Editorial Team
Silent March of The Invisible Force
ASSEFA : 40 years of community development in India
Message from the Editorial Team
In this issue, we wish to share the very significant progress achieved in recent years by the Association for Serva Seva Farms (ASSEFA) of India. This development highlights the potential for increased and better quality alternatives and growth implemented by a territory over time. In this case, the villages are the basis of this initiative or mechanism. But these villages are not withdrawn, these communities are connected by a global project and a bank adapted to the needs, which acts at the regional and national level, allowing solidarity to be organized more broadly and solidly.
We have already introduced this association in Newsletters #4 (2003) and #12 (2005) available on the website listed below. In August 2002, Yvon was the guest of ASSEFA as part of an international delegation. At that time, the association consisted of approximately 3,500 villages. Six (6) years later, they were 9,800 villages! From Yvon’s perspective, this is still a most inspiring association to be acknowledged.
In the coming months, we shall explore with you the path of our Newsletter in regards to the outcome of the meeting in Luxembourg (see previous issue). The awareness that accompanies ongoing crises, particularly the announced end of cheap oil will undoubtedly have tremendous impact. A large number of analyses predict the return of the territory, the "local" level to the place of (re)composition of human activities and management of natural resources and monitoring of ecosystemic resilience. The time has come to put all our human energy at the service of peaceful alternatives to the global macroeconomic model which relied on exploiting with disregard natural resources that we thought inexhaustible. "It is too late to be pessimistic", as says Arthus-Bertrand in the documentary Home.
Next edition: September 2009
Editorial Team
Judith Hitchman
Yvon Poirier
Martine Theveniaut
Silent March of The Invisible Force
ASSEFA : 40 years of community development in India
In celebration of its 40th anniversary, the Association for Serva Seva Farms (ASSEFA) of India published a collection of various articles about its activities in a book with a revealing title: Silent March of the Invisible Force.
In March 2008, this Gandhian inspired movement was composed of 9,766 villages in 8 different states of India. Altogether there are 803,000 families, over 3.5 million people, who benefit from the many activities of ASSEFA. By 2010, it is expected that over 1 million families will be involved in the movement.
In this article it is not possible to describe in detail all the activities ASSEFA. We are presenting a set of elements that give an idea of the work which has been accomplished since 2002, when Yvon Poirier first conducted a site visit. We wish to invite readers to consult Newsletters #4 and 12 to get a better idea what has been achieved in the past 7 years.
Vision: A Holistic Approach
At the beginning in 1968, the purpose was to help the landless to create villages on land obtained by the Gandhi movement. In the beginning, ASSEFA worked for the villagers. In the next step ASSEFA worked with everyone, including the poor. For the past 15 years, it is more appropriate to speak of development by the people, in which the association is involved with planning and support. This approach is holistic and aims to create self-sufficient and sustainable villages.
The concept of trustee is at the heart of the principles that prevail. « Everyone should live on this Mother Earth as a Trustee with all that he has and acquires for the benefit of the community in which he lives.” Therefore, ASSEFA puts its trust in the community and the villagers. They are free to organize themselves, manage money and material resources in order to obtain mutual benefit, and if possible to benefit the nearby villages.
Micro-finance: an empowerment tool for women
The organization of villages rests largely on women's self-help groups (SHGs). In March 2008, there were 32,000 WSHGs bringing together 500,000 women in 113 Sarvodoya Mutual Benefit Trusts (SMBT). In 1996, SMBT became owners of Sarvodaya Nano Finance Limited, a financial institution recognized by the Bank of India. Therefore, micro-finance has been the property of women since 1998. It is managed by them, with the help from ASSEFA professionals. In 2008, there were 172,000 women who received loans. The repayment rate was 99.66%!
In this holistic approach, ASSEFA ensures that villages can meet their needs: health, education, housing, income-generating activities (such as milk production, small businesses, direct sales of agricultural products in markets, etc.).
Building social cohesion
A major emphasis is the building of peace in the communities. As we stated in 2005, ASSEFA with the contributions of organizations in Europe and the support of various Nobel Peace Prize recipients, including the Dalai Lama of Tibet, Mairead Corrigan Maguire of Ireland and Aug San Suu Kyi of Myanmar, has obtained that the UN General Assembly declare “2001-2010 International Decade for a Culture of Peace and Non-violence for the Children of the World." This training is integrated into the ASSEFA school curriculum.
Community weddings are another important activity that has been introduced in recent years. In India, marriage remains an important institution. Beyond the two people, it is a sacred rite that unites two families. However, most marriages are arranged. Although this is a festive event, for many poor families it is a financial disaster. Even if bringing a dowry has been illegal since 1961 in India, it remains the norm. Therefore community marriages, which simultaneously unite Hindu, Muslim and Christian couples do not just promote respect among religions but also strengthen the community and the fight against poverty. With the assistance of WSHGs organizing such marriages reduces the cost to concerned families by 50%. In January and February, 2006 in 7 villages of Tamil Nadu (a state in southern India), 340 couples were married and 49,000 people attended the celebrations. Involving the villagers puts in place the conditions to help the newlyweds, if needed. « In short, the community wedding becomes a potent tool to build social cohesion and self-help villages.”
Prospects for the next 40 years
The priority remains to achieve social and economic justice, and create prosperous villages. Even if the “empowerment of the most vulnerable is a «work in progress» in every society, while sustainability is no longer just a matter of the survival of projects and organisations but must be a global concern; and our ability to understand the implication of inter-dependence may be the key factor in determining whether humanity survives the next century”.
Globalization worsens the gap between rich and poor worldwide and within each country. “The post-petroleum economy opens new opportunities but will create dislocations and real pain for many people. Without effective means to manage the global economy and ensure that people’s basic needs are met, including adjusting to changes in our environment, a secure future for humanity is at risk.”
Author : Yvon Poirier¸
Silent March of The Invisible Force
Sarvodaya Action Research Centre, Madurai, Tamil Nadu, September 2008, 248 p
Our Newsletters are available on the WEB:
http://local-development.blogspot.com/
www.apreis.org/
Special thanks to:
Évéline Poirier from Canada for the English translation
Brunilda Rafael from France for the Spanish translation
Michel Colin from Brazil for the Portuguese translation
To contact us (for information, feedback, to subscribe or unsubscribe):
Yvon Poirier ypoirier@videotron.ca
Wednesday, July 01, 2009
Sunday, June 07, 2009
International Newsletter on Sustainable Local Development
Newsletter #59
June 1st, 2009
Summary
Message from the Editorial Team
4th Intercontinental RIPESS Meeting, Globalisation of Solidarity – Lux’09 Forum, April 22-25, 2009 Schifflange (Luxemburg)
The contributions of Workshop 7: Democratic participation and anchoring the SSE at a territorial level to create another economy.
Message from the Editorial Team
As we announced last April, the entire Editorial Team attended the Lux'09 Meeting. From our perspective, this meeting was a success, especially since several working groups are taking action on proposals elaborated during workshops.
We wish to invite you to visit www.lux09.lu to view the results of thirteen thematic workshops as well as the final Declaration.
Since we were involved from the beginning in organizing Workshop 7, Democratic participation and anchoring the SSE at a territorial level for another economy, and since it is the essence of the mission of our Newsletter, we wish to share the preparatory process of the workshop and its main results.
We are very satisfied with this result, especially as in many other workshops, the concept of local development, which for us means territorial anchoring was present. In conclusion, in the vast majority of sectors of activity, whether responsible consumption and fair trade, solidarity finances, food, energy, housing, etc., the importance of the local level or territorial anchoring is a constant.
Editorial Team
Judith Hitchman
Yvon Poirier
Martine Theveniaut
+++++++++
4th Intercontinental RIPESS Meeting, Globalisation of Solidarity
Lux’09 Forum, April 22-25, 2009, Schifflange (Luxemburg)
The contributions of Workshop 7: Democratic participation and anchoring the SSE at a territorial level to create another economy.
In the current context of deep crisis of democracy and the growth model, the French association of Pactes Locaux, supported by the Foundation for the Progress of Humankind (FPH) devised a mobile, learner-centered capitalization process, that involved a broad working platform at European level. In December 2007, the preparations for Workshop 7 agreed to hold 5 regional meetings. They were hosted by locally active organizations involved in territorial issues. Considerable progress if the following key issues was made:
• Poitou-Charentes: citizen’s participation and creation of 340 employer’s groups to meet needs, create jobs through the foundation of a European Resource Center (France Joubert)
• Auvergne: responsible tourism, a laboratory for territorial solidarity economy, that is both harmonious and sustainable, as well as being a tool for development for the local population. (Alain Laurent and Jean-Claude Mairal)
• Grand Duchy of Luxembourg: Objectif Plein Emploi is a network of 820 employees in jobs that cannot be relocated as well as 400 volunteers. It focuses on local development, solidarity economy and promoting the Third Sector in Europe (Ben Goerens)
• Ile-de-France (Paris Region): the Equitess Collective in Fontenay-sous-Bois introduced new socio-economic practices that contribute to better together in urban areas. (Christine Bourdel, Françoise Hutinet, Joël Cacciaguerra)
• Nord-Pas-de-Calais: metropolis agglomerations (Lille, Kortrijk, Arras and Calais, Dunkerque, Boulogne) and their adjacent territories: How to organise solidarity and economy, and avoid a fatalistic approach were the watchwords of this meeting. (Bruno Deffontaines and Mireille Charonnat, Development Council of Pays de Saint-Omer, with the rural regions of the Green Zone).
The five meetings were concluded in January 2009. The results were highlighted using the same criteria, and charted on a grid. They were discussed between peers and led to concrete proposals. They were enriched and extended at international level between February and April 2009. Thius was done by:
• Using illustrative charts prepared by the speakers and other guest contributors from around the world who were members of workshop 7: Europe, Georgia, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Mali, Madagascar, Quebec, Chile, Malaysia and the Philippines.
• Hosting an international delegation in the Aude before the Lux09 meeting, from April 16th - 21th : Yvon Poirier and Jacques Fiset (Quebec), Denison Jayasooria (Malaysia) and Ben Quiñones (Philippines), President and leader of the CSRSME Asia (Coalition of Socially Responsible SMEs). This is the organisation responsible for carrying the torch for the 5th meeting to Asia in 2013.
Much material, many questions, suggestions and proposals of great value were gathered through this participatory process (www.pactes-locaux.org). Luxembourg ‘09 is a milestone and a new starting point, as evidenced by the general conclusions of Workshop 7. :
85 people registered, about forty actually were present for all 3 sessions of the workshop:
1) "Illustrate and discuss views from the North."
2) On the following day, "Views from the South"
3) "Comparing our vision" on the third day and identification of converging ideas and similarities between actors at all levels of responsibility; making joint proposals from local to European and international levels, potential answers through regulations, organisation, co-operation and decisions.
Workshop 7 considers the idea of territorial anchoring is of central importance.
The gravity of the current crisis provides an opportunity to revise fundamental aspects of the economy by connecting them to the other dimensions at the most relevant level. This means at local, territorial level. It implies that people are the central starting point for both analyses and action. At this level it is possible to adopt a holistic vision. Territorial anchoring makes it possible to adopt a transversal, across-the-board approach and achieve joined-up thinking (environment, social, culture, finance, governance etc.). It also allows for the involvement of all social groups, especially the excluded; it is essential that SSE develop socially inclusive policies. This approach is a pillar of the social solidarity economy and will be placed at the heart of the 5th meeting of RIPESS in Asia.
For this concept to be understood and disseminated, the learning approach of the Pactes Locaux is an appropriate tool. It the concrete translation of the expression “experience shapes and takes shape”. The learning journey (as it is called in Asia) contributes to the co-construction of a shared vision of the territory and about the territory. This type of tool needs to be improved and adapted.
Capacity building and training are indispensable. The target groups for this are elected representatives, municipal staff and the civil services in general.
Participation must be the norm, but it must be facilitated by reaching out to the most excluded and the most needy, through listening and dialogue rather than by preaching. This is essential.
It is important to have facilitators, storytellers and moderators in daily local life. The same applies to effective tools like the African tradition of sitting under a tree to talk things through.
Taken together, all these elements help to establish the link between representative democracy and active democracy.
The networking and exchange of North-South experiences is also important. There is a need to strike a new balance between exchanging experience and knowledge.
The use of regulations, in other words of policies, is inevitable in order to establish links between local, regional, national, continental and global levels.
There were specific proposals that mark the shared will to continue a meaningful dialogue to explore two issues in the framework of the International Asian Forum in 2013:
• What contribution can the territorial, cultural, environmental, and social dimension bring to the various themes that the Forum intends to address?
• What contribution can be made to the development of global projects?
A number of actions have been listed, and are being explored in terms of their potential implementation.
This approach was reinforced in the concluding speech to Lux09 made by Romain Biever, Chairman of INEES (European Institute for Solidarity based Economy), in which he emphasised the following 5 points:
• "continue to conceptualize basic research in the field of economic science;
• continue applied research on various themes through projects because the skills are embedded within the projects;
• emphasise the value of territories in democratic governance;
• strengthen networking;
• enable all citizens to participate, to develop critical thinking, fight dogmatic positions, participate in the media ... We must combine these 5 points, and help them to grow from the territories, to become new locomotives. We need to develop a knowledge-based society and create centres of excellence in our territories and internationally. "
Article by Martine Theveniaut
Our Newsletters are available on the WEB:http://local-development.blogspot.com/
www.apreis.org/
Special thanks to:
Évéline Poirier from Canada for the English translation
Brunilda Rafael from France for the Spanish translation
Michel Colin from Brazil for the Portuguese translation
To contact us (for information, feedback, to subscribe or unsubscribe):
Yvon Poirier ypoirier@videotron.ca
Newsletter #59
June 1st, 2009
Summary
Message from the Editorial Team
4th Intercontinental RIPESS Meeting, Globalisation of Solidarity – Lux’09 Forum, April 22-25, 2009 Schifflange (Luxemburg)
The contributions of Workshop 7: Democratic participation and anchoring the SSE at a territorial level to create another economy.
Message from the Editorial Team
As we announced last April, the entire Editorial Team attended the Lux'09 Meeting. From our perspective, this meeting was a success, especially since several working groups are taking action on proposals elaborated during workshops.
We wish to invite you to visit www.lux09.lu to view the results of thirteen thematic workshops as well as the final Declaration.
Since we were involved from the beginning in organizing Workshop 7, Democratic participation and anchoring the SSE at a territorial level for another economy, and since it is the essence of the mission of our Newsletter, we wish to share the preparatory process of the workshop and its main results.
We are very satisfied with this result, especially as in many other workshops, the concept of local development, which for us means territorial anchoring was present. In conclusion, in the vast majority of sectors of activity, whether responsible consumption and fair trade, solidarity finances, food, energy, housing, etc., the importance of the local level or territorial anchoring is a constant.
Editorial Team
Judith Hitchman
Yvon Poirier
Martine Theveniaut
+++++++++
4th Intercontinental RIPESS Meeting, Globalisation of Solidarity
Lux’09 Forum, April 22-25, 2009, Schifflange (Luxemburg)
The contributions of Workshop 7: Democratic participation and anchoring the SSE at a territorial level to create another economy.
In the current context of deep crisis of democracy and the growth model, the French association of Pactes Locaux, supported by the Foundation for the Progress of Humankind (FPH) devised a mobile, learner-centered capitalization process, that involved a broad working platform at European level. In December 2007, the preparations for Workshop 7 agreed to hold 5 regional meetings. They were hosted by locally active organizations involved in territorial issues. Considerable progress if the following key issues was made:
• Poitou-Charentes: citizen’s participation and creation of 340 employer’s groups to meet needs, create jobs through the foundation of a European Resource Center (France Joubert)
• Auvergne: responsible tourism, a laboratory for territorial solidarity economy, that is both harmonious and sustainable, as well as being a tool for development for the local population. (Alain Laurent and Jean-Claude Mairal)
• Grand Duchy of Luxembourg: Objectif Plein Emploi is a network of 820 employees in jobs that cannot be relocated as well as 400 volunteers. It focuses on local development, solidarity economy and promoting the Third Sector in Europe (Ben Goerens)
• Ile-de-France (Paris Region): the Equitess Collective in Fontenay-sous-Bois introduced new socio-economic practices that contribute to better together in urban areas. (Christine Bourdel, Françoise Hutinet, Joël Cacciaguerra)
• Nord-Pas-de-Calais: metropolis agglomerations (Lille, Kortrijk, Arras and Calais, Dunkerque, Boulogne) and their adjacent territories: How to organise solidarity and economy, and avoid a fatalistic approach were the watchwords of this meeting. (Bruno Deffontaines and Mireille Charonnat, Development Council of Pays de Saint-Omer, with the rural regions of the Green Zone).
The five meetings were concluded in January 2009. The results were highlighted using the same criteria, and charted on a grid. They were discussed between peers and led to concrete proposals. They were enriched and extended at international level between February and April 2009. Thius was done by:
• Using illustrative charts prepared by the speakers and other guest contributors from around the world who were members of workshop 7: Europe, Georgia, Senegal, Burkina Faso, Ivory Coast, Mali, Madagascar, Quebec, Chile, Malaysia and the Philippines.
• Hosting an international delegation in the Aude before the Lux09 meeting, from April 16th - 21th : Yvon Poirier and Jacques Fiset (Quebec), Denison Jayasooria (Malaysia) and Ben Quiñones (Philippines), President and leader of the CSRSME Asia (Coalition of Socially Responsible SMEs). This is the organisation responsible for carrying the torch for the 5th meeting to Asia in 2013.
Much material, many questions, suggestions and proposals of great value were gathered through this participatory process (www.pactes-locaux.org). Luxembourg ‘09 is a milestone and a new starting point, as evidenced by the general conclusions of Workshop 7. :
85 people registered, about forty actually were present for all 3 sessions of the workshop:
1) "Illustrate and discuss views from the North."
2) On the following day, "Views from the South"
3) "Comparing our vision" on the third day and identification of converging ideas and similarities between actors at all levels of responsibility; making joint proposals from local to European and international levels, potential answers through regulations, organisation, co-operation and decisions.
Workshop 7 considers the idea of territorial anchoring is of central importance.
The gravity of the current crisis provides an opportunity to revise fundamental aspects of the economy by connecting them to the other dimensions at the most relevant level. This means at local, territorial level. It implies that people are the central starting point for both analyses and action. At this level it is possible to adopt a holistic vision. Territorial anchoring makes it possible to adopt a transversal, across-the-board approach and achieve joined-up thinking (environment, social, culture, finance, governance etc.). It also allows for the involvement of all social groups, especially the excluded; it is essential that SSE develop socially inclusive policies. This approach is a pillar of the social solidarity economy and will be placed at the heart of the 5th meeting of RIPESS in Asia.
For this concept to be understood and disseminated, the learning approach of the Pactes Locaux is an appropriate tool. It the concrete translation of the expression “experience shapes and takes shape”. The learning journey (as it is called in Asia) contributes to the co-construction of a shared vision of the territory and about the territory. This type of tool needs to be improved and adapted.
Capacity building and training are indispensable. The target groups for this are elected representatives, municipal staff and the civil services in general.
Participation must be the norm, but it must be facilitated by reaching out to the most excluded and the most needy, through listening and dialogue rather than by preaching. This is essential.
It is important to have facilitators, storytellers and moderators in daily local life. The same applies to effective tools like the African tradition of sitting under a tree to talk things through.
Taken together, all these elements help to establish the link between representative democracy and active democracy.
The networking and exchange of North-South experiences is also important. There is a need to strike a new balance between exchanging experience and knowledge.
The use of regulations, in other words of policies, is inevitable in order to establish links between local, regional, national, continental and global levels.
There were specific proposals that mark the shared will to continue a meaningful dialogue to explore two issues in the framework of the International Asian Forum in 2013:
• What contribution can the territorial, cultural, environmental, and social dimension bring to the various themes that the Forum intends to address?
• What contribution can be made to the development of global projects?
A number of actions have been listed, and are being explored in terms of their potential implementation.
This approach was reinforced in the concluding speech to Lux09 made by Romain Biever, Chairman of INEES (European Institute for Solidarity based Economy), in which he emphasised the following 5 points:
• "continue to conceptualize basic research in the field of economic science;
• continue applied research on various themes through projects because the skills are embedded within the projects;
• emphasise the value of territories in democratic governance;
• strengthen networking;
• enable all citizens to participate, to develop critical thinking, fight dogmatic positions, participate in the media ... We must combine these 5 points, and help them to grow from the territories, to become new locomotives. We need to develop a knowledge-based society and create centres of excellence in our territories and internationally. "
Article by Martine Theveniaut
Our Newsletters are available on the WEB:http://local-development.blogspot.com/
www.apreis.org/
Special thanks to:
Évéline Poirier from Canada for the English translation
Brunilda Rafael from France for the Spanish translation
Michel Colin from Brazil for the Portuguese translation
To contact us (for information, feedback, to subscribe or unsubscribe):
Yvon Poirier ypoirier@videotron.ca
Thursday, May 28, 2009
International Newsletter on Sustainable Local Development
Newsletter #58
May 1st, 2009
Summary
Message from the Editorial Team
Economic Justice from the Bottom Up
The Solidarity Economy Movement Emerges in Its First U.S. Conference
Message from the Editorial Team
A first conference on solidarity economy was held in the U.S. last March. In this issue we are reproducing an article by Carl Davidson, a Coordinating Committee member of the U.S. Solidarity Economy Network (USSEN).
In the current economic, financial and environmental crises, the development of a solidarity economy movement as public policy within a country that promotes neo-liberal globalization is a sign of fundamental change, which follows the election of Obama as president of the USA. The challenges are enormous in a context where large corporations do not wish to relinquish being major players. For example, Exxon is trying to get their hands on wind power projects!
The movement is young, but it is rooted in a variety of social movements, spread in all regions of the U.S.
Editorial Team
Judith Hitchman
Yvon Poirier
Martine Theveniaut
Economic Justice from the Bottom Up
The Solidarity Economy Movement Emerges in Its First U.S. Conference
By Carl Davidson
SolidarityEconomy.Net
Nearly 400 organizers and activists gathered at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst March 19-22 for the first national gathering of the U.S. Solidarity Economy Network, exceeding the expectations of its organizers.
The deepening economic crisis made the meeting quite timely. The overall theme was 'Building Another World,' and drew participants from the East Coast, South and Midwest of the US, even Alaska and Puerto Rico. Internationally, delegations came from Quebec, Venezuela, Peru, Mexico, and Canada. People represented economic justice and green jobs projects, food coops and credit unions, worker coops and labor unions, and peace and justice organizing efforts.
"Our diversity was very dynamic and creative," said Julie Matthaei, a USSEN coordinating committee member. "It served us well in affirming our unity, discussing differences, and helping us reach a deeper understanding of the solidarity economy in our context."
The solidarity economy is a grassroots movement widely known throughout Latin America, arising from people turning to each other for survival in the face of the slashing of social safety nets imposed by globalization and neo-liberalism. It consists of peasant cooperatives, workers seizing abandoned factories and a variety of organizations of the urban poor. In Europe and Quebec, it's also known as part of the social economy, with deep ties to the trade unions, worker-owned cooperatives and the non-profit sector in social services. Together, the social and solidarity economy are quite strong there, with successes in pushing public policy.
USSEN was launched at the US Social Forum in Atlanta, 2007, which drew some 12,000 participants. SEN activists had organized over 80 panels and workshops, and the network was founded from among the participants. It has added to its numbers since then, with the Amherst meeting its first major U.S. project. It was co-convened with the Universidad de los Andes from Venezuela and RIPESS-North America, the Intercontinental Social Solidarity Economy Network.
Emily Kawano, USSEN director, welcomed everyone at the opening plenary and took note of this history. "We know the solidarity economy is new to activists here in the U.S., but we're very excited about how it is being taken up. We're very clear on its core meaning, but at the same time, we like the concept that we build the road as we travel it." Ethel Cote followed with a description of how the Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CCEDNET) she was representing was facing new challenges in coming to scale in the new period of crisis, while Benito Diaz of the Venezuelan University on the Andes described the large cooperative movement launched as part of the Bolivarian revolution in his country.
The conference was organized around some 70 workshops in eight time slots, with four major plenary sessions, as well as an opening tour of local examples of the solidarity economy in practice in Western Massachusetts. A total of 199 speakers made presentations and facilitated discussions.
A broad range of topics
The topics covered a wide-range: A common policy agenda in the context of Obama's recovery plans, cooperative housing, fair trade, credit unions, alternative currencies, cooperatives in Venezuela, worker takeovers in Argentina, feminist economics, the social economy in Quebec, the role of labor unions, worker cooperatives, green jobs alliances, solar power and many more.
The Friday morning plenary was packed. Elandria Williams from the Highlander Research and Educational Center in Knoxville, Tennessee fired people up with descriptions of organizing battles for economic justice. "We've been engaged in the solidarity economy for our survival for and long time. We just never applied that name to it." She shared the platform with Ethan Miller from the Grassroots Economic Organizing network. He delighted the session with an extensive graphic mapping of all the interconnected features of the movement cast on a giant screen.
Solidarity Economy and green jobs
The question of the solidarity economy's connection with the wider "green jobs" movement came up early in an opening round workshop on shaping a common policy in the context of the Obama stimulus. The issue was underscored by the recent appointment of Van Jones of Green For All to the White House team--Green For All and Jones are highly regarded here. While there was no consensus answer, almost all agreed that there was considerable overlap between the two, and the solidarity economy projects had an important role in the green jobs movement.
"They're not exactly the same," said one participant. "T. Boone Pickens, the Texas millionaire guy who wants all those wind turbines to make the Midwest the Saudi Arabia of wind power is clearly part of the green economy, but he's most likely indifferent at best as to what makes for a solidarity economy, worker and community ownership and the like. But that's where we come in, what we can offer to the green jobs movement."
Two main questions structured the discussions
The "Obama debate" emerged in several workshops over the weekend. There were a range of views on the new White House, with many sympathetic to Obama. Some declared themselves as Green voters, however, and a few didn't bother with the election. In fact, there are two major underlying discussions and debates in the solidarity economy movement almost everywhere.
• One is whether SE projects operate as alternatives to markets or as a dynamic option within them.
• The other concerns the state, and whether SE projects grow mainly by linking horizontally outside of government, or whether they partner with government to force structural reforms, especially on the local level. Both views were expressed, but neither saw the need to force a conclusion on the matter.
But most participants were simply upbeat about the size and diversity of the turnout, and intrigued over the array of choices of workshop subject matter they could sample.
A conference of international scope
The Friday evening plenary deepened the internationalist dimension of the conference. Nancy Neamtan from the Chantier de l'économie sociale in Quebec, the network of networks of all organizations involved in social economy, explained the deep connection with the labor movement through a number of battles and crises, and how the social economy is critical to the survival of the working class, especially working women. Graciela Monteagudo, speaking for the Argentina Autonomista Project, gave a powerful slide show on the efforts of that country's urban street poor to organize themselves in recycling cooperatives, while Jose Sojo of Venezuela described the ongoing challenges with cooperatives surviving in the marketplace.
Jobs for youth
By Saturday morning the conference workshops had the problem of being overcrowded, as more activists arrived in Amherst for the weekend. "Community Owned Green Jobs and Green Energy" was a popular choice. Organized by Massachusetts Coop Power, the presenters gave excellent detailed descriptions of creating green jobs for youth installing solar powered hot water heaters in residential homes. Even low-income families could take advantage of a number of creative plans to cover up-front expenses for the units by borrowing against their future savings on power bills from the utility companies.
"It's 'Win-Win' all round," said Lynn Benander of Coop Power. When queried about how she won over dubious inner city youth to take up the program, she replied: "I put a foam cup of hot water in the middle of the table and asked, 'How would you keep it hot?' and got them to compete for solutions. Then I said, 'OK, good, now how you keep this room and this building warmer? Here's a detector, find the heat loss, and think about how to stop it. Worked like a charm; they got into it."
Partnering to build an inclusive, equitable and green economy
A workshop that followed up on a similar theme was "Building an Inclusive and Equitable Green Economy," presented by the Massachusetts Green Jobs Coalition. "How do we actually do it?" asked Kalia Lydgate, a MAGJC organizer. A student inspired by Van Jones and his book, "Green Collar Economy," she went on to describe how they used his ideas to build cross-sectoral alliances that are inclusive of those needing green jobs the most. "If you walk in a room and it's all white guys in suits, you've got big problems. That just won't work." MAGJC turned out to be a successful statewide coalition and advocate that got bottom up job training and funding done the best way.
"This is one of the most thought provoking and enlightening experiences in my life," said Tylik Railey, a young activist with the Asbury Park Neighborhood Cooperative in New Jersey. "I'm so glad that I am a part of a movement this huge and worldwide. Not knowing too much about solidarity economy, I was a little hesitant into walking into this world of organizers, scholars, students, and small business people. But in little to no time I was sharing my experiences with these same people."
The role of unions in the social movement
The afternoon round featured a workshop on labor. Yvon Poirier of the Canadian CED Network and a retired Quebec trade unionist gave a presentation on the critical role of unions in the Quebec social movements. "With our conservative government in Ottawa," said Poirier, "a progressive agenda is not fully possible right now." Still, he went on to explain the advanced way, compared to the U.S., that since the mid-1980s, Quebec unions made use of their own pension funds to support growth in the social economy that served the basic needs of the population. Others in the workshop brought up some of the problems with "business unionism" in the U.S, but noted there were now a number of openings for work around wider issues. All agreed that SEN activists should take up the Fight for the upcoming Employee Free Choice Act that the GOP Right is trying to block.
Worker cooperatives are at the heart of the solidarity economy
One workshop discussed a number of projects in the Bronx and New York City. Workshop participant Bucket von Harmony, a member of a rural coop in Virginia, reported:
"We learned how many immigrant workers in New York City are treated poorly by their employers. So a group of folks got together and formed various collectives: a childcare co-op, a construction co-op, and a house cleaning co-op. They each have different structures. One requires that everyone put in 2 hours of marketing work a week. The construction co-op gives women the opportunity to participate in construction that they had not access to before and they all pay each other equally no matter what their skill level is. It is awesome to see how sharing and cooperation can better the lives of those who have the hardest time getting by, as so much our movement is made up of those who have had a lot of privilege in the mainstream culture."
Credit unions are also a feature of the solidarity economy.
The workshop, "Guide to a Better Banking System," organized by the Federation of Community Development Credit Unions, spotlighted how they have been hit by the overall financial crisis, when their own national center was caught with securities, supposedly safe AAA investments, that were really based on toxic mortgages. "We'll take a hit,'" said Cliff Rosenthal, "but we'll come through it better than others." He went on to explain the value of credit unions, themselves coops, in meeting the financial needs of local worker and community-base cooperatives.
Rosenthal also led off at the Saturday evening plenary with a short version of the workshop. But the role of credit unions became apparent with the other presenters with him: Van Temple of the National Community Land Trust, which works to develop affordable housing on community-held land; and Nick Regalado of West Virginia's Coal River Mountain Watch, which promotes windmill farms and opposes the "mountaintop removal" method of strip mining coal ravaging the Appalachian highlands. This session concluded with a militant call by Julio Chavez, the former mayor of Trujillo, Venezuela for greater cooperation internationally, and solidarity with the Bolivarian revolutionary process unfolding in his country.
Rejoicing together
A cabaret of solidarity culture closed out the evening with high energy. First was Raging Grannies, a colorful group doing peace and folk songs, and a number of folk singers including Red Valley Fog, Jay Mankita and Ethan Miller. "Brick by Brick", an inner city hip-hop group changed the pace with rap poetry written that day, to much enthusiasm. Finally, a spoken word group read from the writing and speech of famous labor leaders over a span of 150 years, and ended with everyone standing, singing a rousing version of "Solidarity Forever." Among the more grey-haired veterans of labor battles in the 1970s, there wasn't a dry eye to be found.
Wrap-up
Sunday was wrap-up day, as people prepared for catching planes. A last round of workshops featured one of Egalitarian Communes led by Bucket von Harmony, and another on "Women Feminism and the Solidarity Economy" with Ethel Cote, Julie Matthaei, and Nedda Angulo of RIPESS. Angulo gave the final plenary a militant call to expand the work on all continents, and to encourage those who could to attend the upcoming RIPESS meeting in Luxembourg.
Throughout the conference, SEN had three "business meetings" on the work of building the organization and the wider network. It agreed to form a new board of directors and a smaller coordinating committee, as well as setting other priorities and refining its message and mission. Quebec's Yvon Poirier summed up the conclusion:
"Back in June 2007, in Atlanta, there were about 40 people in the final meeting, out of the 80 workshops, that decided to go forward. Now there are about 350 or 400 people in the US that know a lot more, and are certainly interested in one way or another, in promoting Solidarity Economy." With scarce resources, it won't be an easy task. But the times demand it, and if the people who gathered in Amherst are any indication, they will rise to the occasion.
US SEN website:
http://www.populareconomics.org/ussen/
Original article in English
Sub-section titles added by the Editorial Team
Our Newsletters are available on the WEB:
http://local-development.blogspot.com/
www.apreis.org/
Special thanks to:
Évéline Poirier from Canada for the English translation
Brunilda Rafael from France for the Spanish translation
Michel Colin from Brazil for the Portuguese translation
To contact us (for information, feedback, to subscribe or unsubscribe):
Yvon Poirier ypoirier@videotron.ca
Newsletter #58
May 1st, 2009
Summary
Message from the Editorial Team
Economic Justice from the Bottom Up
The Solidarity Economy Movement Emerges in Its First U.S. Conference
Message from the Editorial Team
A first conference on solidarity economy was held in the U.S. last March. In this issue we are reproducing an article by Carl Davidson, a Coordinating Committee member of the U.S. Solidarity Economy Network (USSEN).
In the current economic, financial and environmental crises, the development of a solidarity economy movement as public policy within a country that promotes neo-liberal globalization is a sign of fundamental change, which follows the election of Obama as president of the USA. The challenges are enormous in a context where large corporations do not wish to relinquish being major players. For example, Exxon is trying to get their hands on wind power projects!
The movement is young, but it is rooted in a variety of social movements, spread in all regions of the U.S.
Editorial Team
Judith Hitchman
Yvon Poirier
Martine Theveniaut
Economic Justice from the Bottom Up
The Solidarity Economy Movement Emerges in Its First U.S. Conference
By Carl Davidson
SolidarityEconomy.Net
Nearly 400 organizers and activists gathered at the University of Massachusetts in Amherst March 19-22 for the first national gathering of the U.S. Solidarity Economy Network, exceeding the expectations of its organizers.
The deepening economic crisis made the meeting quite timely. The overall theme was 'Building Another World,' and drew participants from the East Coast, South and Midwest of the US, even Alaska and Puerto Rico. Internationally, delegations came from Quebec, Venezuela, Peru, Mexico, and Canada. People represented economic justice and green jobs projects, food coops and credit unions, worker coops and labor unions, and peace and justice organizing efforts.
"Our diversity was very dynamic and creative," said Julie Matthaei, a USSEN coordinating committee member. "It served us well in affirming our unity, discussing differences, and helping us reach a deeper understanding of the solidarity economy in our context."
The solidarity economy is a grassroots movement widely known throughout Latin America, arising from people turning to each other for survival in the face of the slashing of social safety nets imposed by globalization and neo-liberalism. It consists of peasant cooperatives, workers seizing abandoned factories and a variety of organizations of the urban poor. In Europe and Quebec, it's also known as part of the social economy, with deep ties to the trade unions, worker-owned cooperatives and the non-profit sector in social services. Together, the social and solidarity economy are quite strong there, with successes in pushing public policy.
USSEN was launched at the US Social Forum in Atlanta, 2007, which drew some 12,000 participants. SEN activists had organized over 80 panels and workshops, and the network was founded from among the participants. It has added to its numbers since then, with the Amherst meeting its first major U.S. project. It was co-convened with the Universidad de los Andes from Venezuela and RIPESS-North America, the Intercontinental Social Solidarity Economy Network.
Emily Kawano, USSEN director, welcomed everyone at the opening plenary and took note of this history. "We know the solidarity economy is new to activists here in the U.S., but we're very excited about how it is being taken up. We're very clear on its core meaning, but at the same time, we like the concept that we build the road as we travel it." Ethel Cote followed with a description of how the Canadian Community Economic Development Network (CCEDNET) she was representing was facing new challenges in coming to scale in the new period of crisis, while Benito Diaz of the Venezuelan University on the Andes described the large cooperative movement launched as part of the Bolivarian revolution in his country.
The conference was organized around some 70 workshops in eight time slots, with four major plenary sessions, as well as an opening tour of local examples of the solidarity economy in practice in Western Massachusetts. A total of 199 speakers made presentations and facilitated discussions.
A broad range of topics
The topics covered a wide-range: A common policy agenda in the context of Obama's recovery plans, cooperative housing, fair trade, credit unions, alternative currencies, cooperatives in Venezuela, worker takeovers in Argentina, feminist economics, the social economy in Quebec, the role of labor unions, worker cooperatives, green jobs alliances, solar power and many more.
The Friday morning plenary was packed. Elandria Williams from the Highlander Research and Educational Center in Knoxville, Tennessee fired people up with descriptions of organizing battles for economic justice. "We've been engaged in the solidarity economy for our survival for and long time. We just never applied that name to it." She shared the platform with Ethan Miller from the Grassroots Economic Organizing network. He delighted the session with an extensive graphic mapping of all the interconnected features of the movement cast on a giant screen.
Solidarity Economy and green jobs
The question of the solidarity economy's connection with the wider "green jobs" movement came up early in an opening round workshop on shaping a common policy in the context of the Obama stimulus. The issue was underscored by the recent appointment of Van Jones of Green For All to the White House team--Green For All and Jones are highly regarded here. While there was no consensus answer, almost all agreed that there was considerable overlap between the two, and the solidarity economy projects had an important role in the green jobs movement.
"They're not exactly the same," said one participant. "T. Boone Pickens, the Texas millionaire guy who wants all those wind turbines to make the Midwest the Saudi Arabia of wind power is clearly part of the green economy, but he's most likely indifferent at best as to what makes for a solidarity economy, worker and community ownership and the like. But that's where we come in, what we can offer to the green jobs movement."
Two main questions structured the discussions
The "Obama debate" emerged in several workshops over the weekend. There were a range of views on the new White House, with many sympathetic to Obama. Some declared themselves as Green voters, however, and a few didn't bother with the election. In fact, there are two major underlying discussions and debates in the solidarity economy movement almost everywhere.
• One is whether SE projects operate as alternatives to markets or as a dynamic option within them.
• The other concerns the state, and whether SE projects grow mainly by linking horizontally outside of government, or whether they partner with government to force structural reforms, especially on the local level. Both views were expressed, but neither saw the need to force a conclusion on the matter.
But most participants were simply upbeat about the size and diversity of the turnout, and intrigued over the array of choices of workshop subject matter they could sample.
A conference of international scope
The Friday evening plenary deepened the internationalist dimension of the conference. Nancy Neamtan from the Chantier de l'économie sociale in Quebec, the network of networks of all organizations involved in social economy, explained the deep connection with the labor movement through a number of battles and crises, and how the social economy is critical to the survival of the working class, especially working women. Graciela Monteagudo, speaking for the Argentina Autonomista Project, gave a powerful slide show on the efforts of that country's urban street poor to organize themselves in recycling cooperatives, while Jose Sojo of Venezuela described the ongoing challenges with cooperatives surviving in the marketplace.
Jobs for youth
By Saturday morning the conference workshops had the problem of being overcrowded, as more activists arrived in Amherst for the weekend. "Community Owned Green Jobs and Green Energy" was a popular choice. Organized by Massachusetts Coop Power, the presenters gave excellent detailed descriptions of creating green jobs for youth installing solar powered hot water heaters in residential homes. Even low-income families could take advantage of a number of creative plans to cover up-front expenses for the units by borrowing against their future savings on power bills from the utility companies.
"It's 'Win-Win' all round," said Lynn Benander of Coop Power. When queried about how she won over dubious inner city youth to take up the program, she replied: "I put a foam cup of hot water in the middle of the table and asked, 'How would you keep it hot?' and got them to compete for solutions. Then I said, 'OK, good, now how you keep this room and this building warmer? Here's a detector, find the heat loss, and think about how to stop it. Worked like a charm; they got into it."
Partnering to build an inclusive, equitable and green economy
A workshop that followed up on a similar theme was "Building an Inclusive and Equitable Green Economy," presented by the Massachusetts Green Jobs Coalition. "How do we actually do it?" asked Kalia Lydgate, a MAGJC organizer. A student inspired by Van Jones and his book, "Green Collar Economy," she went on to describe how they used his ideas to build cross-sectoral alliances that are inclusive of those needing green jobs the most. "If you walk in a room and it's all white guys in suits, you've got big problems. That just won't work." MAGJC turned out to be a successful statewide coalition and advocate that got bottom up job training and funding done the best way.
"This is one of the most thought provoking and enlightening experiences in my life," said Tylik Railey, a young activist with the Asbury Park Neighborhood Cooperative in New Jersey. "I'm so glad that I am a part of a movement this huge and worldwide. Not knowing too much about solidarity economy, I was a little hesitant into walking into this world of organizers, scholars, students, and small business people. But in little to no time I was sharing my experiences with these same people."
The role of unions in the social movement
The afternoon round featured a workshop on labor. Yvon Poirier of the Canadian CED Network and a retired Quebec trade unionist gave a presentation on the critical role of unions in the Quebec social movements. "With our conservative government in Ottawa," said Poirier, "a progressive agenda is not fully possible right now." Still, he went on to explain the advanced way, compared to the U.S., that since the mid-1980s, Quebec unions made use of their own pension funds to support growth in the social economy that served the basic needs of the population. Others in the workshop brought up some of the problems with "business unionism" in the U.S, but noted there were now a number of openings for work around wider issues. All agreed that SEN activists should take up the Fight for the upcoming Employee Free Choice Act that the GOP Right is trying to block.
Worker cooperatives are at the heart of the solidarity economy
One workshop discussed a number of projects in the Bronx and New York City. Workshop participant Bucket von Harmony, a member of a rural coop in Virginia, reported:
"We learned how many immigrant workers in New York City are treated poorly by their employers. So a group of folks got together and formed various collectives: a childcare co-op, a construction co-op, and a house cleaning co-op. They each have different structures. One requires that everyone put in 2 hours of marketing work a week. The construction co-op gives women the opportunity to participate in construction that they had not access to before and they all pay each other equally no matter what their skill level is. It is awesome to see how sharing and cooperation can better the lives of those who have the hardest time getting by, as so much our movement is made up of those who have had a lot of privilege in the mainstream culture."
Credit unions are also a feature of the solidarity economy.
The workshop, "Guide to a Better Banking System," organized by the Federation of Community Development Credit Unions, spotlighted how they have been hit by the overall financial crisis, when their own national center was caught with securities, supposedly safe AAA investments, that were really based on toxic mortgages. "We'll take a hit,'" said Cliff Rosenthal, "but we'll come through it better than others." He went on to explain the value of credit unions, themselves coops, in meeting the financial needs of local worker and community-base cooperatives.
Rosenthal also led off at the Saturday evening plenary with a short version of the workshop. But the role of credit unions became apparent with the other presenters with him: Van Temple of the National Community Land Trust, which works to develop affordable housing on community-held land; and Nick Regalado of West Virginia's Coal River Mountain Watch, which promotes windmill farms and opposes the "mountaintop removal" method of strip mining coal ravaging the Appalachian highlands. This session concluded with a militant call by Julio Chavez, the former mayor of Trujillo, Venezuela for greater cooperation internationally, and solidarity with the Bolivarian revolutionary process unfolding in his country.
Rejoicing together
A cabaret of solidarity culture closed out the evening with high energy. First was Raging Grannies, a colorful group doing peace and folk songs, and a number of folk singers including Red Valley Fog, Jay Mankita and Ethan Miller. "Brick by Brick", an inner city hip-hop group changed the pace with rap poetry written that day, to much enthusiasm. Finally, a spoken word group read from the writing and speech of famous labor leaders over a span of 150 years, and ended with everyone standing, singing a rousing version of "Solidarity Forever." Among the more grey-haired veterans of labor battles in the 1970s, there wasn't a dry eye to be found.
Wrap-up
Sunday was wrap-up day, as people prepared for catching planes. A last round of workshops featured one of Egalitarian Communes led by Bucket von Harmony, and another on "Women Feminism and the Solidarity Economy" with Ethel Cote, Julie Matthaei, and Nedda Angulo of RIPESS. Angulo gave the final plenary a militant call to expand the work on all continents, and to encourage those who could to attend the upcoming RIPESS meeting in Luxembourg.
Throughout the conference, SEN had three "business meetings" on the work of building the organization and the wider network. It agreed to form a new board of directors and a smaller coordinating committee, as well as setting other priorities and refining its message and mission. Quebec's Yvon Poirier summed up the conclusion:
"Back in June 2007, in Atlanta, there were about 40 people in the final meeting, out of the 80 workshops, that decided to go forward. Now there are about 350 or 400 people in the US that know a lot more, and are certainly interested in one way or another, in promoting Solidarity Economy." With scarce resources, it won't be an easy task. But the times demand it, and if the people who gathered in Amherst are any indication, they will rise to the occasion.
US SEN website:
http://www.populareconomics.org/ussen/
Original article in English
Sub-section titles added by the Editorial Team
Our Newsletters are available on the WEB:
http://local-development.blogspot.com/
www.apreis.org/
Special thanks to:
Évéline Poirier from Canada for the English translation
Brunilda Rafael from France for the Spanish translation
Michel Colin from Brazil for the Portuguese translation
To contact us (for information, feedback, to subscribe or unsubscribe):
Yvon Poirier ypoirier@videotron.ca
Thursday, April 02, 2009
International Newsletter on Sustainable Local Development
Newsletter #57
April 1st, 2009
Summary
Message from the Editorial Team
Musings on the mainstreaming of solidarity economy, public procurement and cultural difference
Message from the Editorial Team
In this issue, Judith shares her thoughts on the impact of solidarity economy in the European context: the inclusion of products which are designated either fair trade or organic in the procurement policies of the national or regional governments, local authorities , as well as large institutions like universities, major industrial or commercial groups. This issue is presently being discussed by several countries.
As reported in our last issue, militants in Brazil are calling for support of a Brazilian Bill on School meals, which ensures that at least 30% of canteen food in schools is sourced from local family farms and Solidarity Economy. In the same vein, RIPESS is proposing to launch a global campaign for public procurement and an ethical and responsible consumption of goods and services.
Judith's article provides an overview of some of the practical challenges encountered, especially in France and the UK. As the title of the article suggests, there are also many initiatives elsewhere. For example, Yvon is aware of two initiatives of the Early Childhood Centres’ Network of Quebec; they are the equivalent to childcare nurseries. Many of these centres purchase organic foods from local farmers. This helps create awareness of healthy eating in young children of preschool age and keeps their parents informed. These centres have also created a joint co-operative for the procurement of all their goods and services.
This question is on the agenda the Lux'09 meeting. It is transversal and concerns responsible consumption (Workshop 6), but also public policies (Workshop 1), networks (Workshop 9) or communication (workshop 10), etc.
All of our Editorial Team will be actively participating in the Luxembourg meeting!! We will share discussions and progress in the June 1st Newsletter, as it will not be possible for May 1st.
As we know that many of our readers will also be present, and we are very much looking forward to seeing you there.
Editorial Team
Judith Hitchman
Yvon Poirier
Martine Theveniaut
Musings on the mainstreaming of solidarity economy, public procurement and cultural difference.
This short article is based on a number of recent experiences and meetings with which I have been associated, mainly as interpreter, and is an attempt to further the understanding of readers as to some of the threats and opportunities inherent to the development of economic alternatives in the current global situation of multiple crises.
Fair Trade and buying local: a complementary approach?
A recent seminar organised by Max Havelaar for the Fair Trade Towns programme provided much food for thought. This programme which has European Union funding, uses the following definition:
« A Fairtrade Town is a town, city, village, county, zone, island or borough that has made a commitment to supporting Fairtrade and using products with the FAIRTRADE Mark. Any area can work towards Fairtrade status and everyone needs to be involved!
Community organisations, faith groups, businesses, schools and individuals all contribute to making their area a Fairtrade Town by pledging to do what they can to support Fairtrade and promote the FAIRTRADE Mark. »
Fair trade, along with local organic food and the short supply chain or direct producer-to-consumer production of food or goods, (particularly Local Solidarity Partnerships between Producers and Consumers: LSPPC) is a very strongly emerging trend today. While the first is based on the specific criteria of Fair Trade (cf Max Havelaar, WFTO – formerly IFAT – sites), the latter is based on principles of responsible consumption at local level. Both cut out the concept of middlemen, and ensure a decent living for the producers. This in itself means that while the producer is paid far more than if the goods are bought by supermarkets (who try to keep the prices paid to growers/producers to a minimum, and their own profit margins to a maximum), that the short chain means that prices that consumers pay are generally much the same as those of the ‘mainstream market economy’. The quality of food and goods is always very high.
The other key aspect is the respect of International Labor Organisation (ILO) conventions, which guarantee decent work conditions for all producers. And when people can earn a decent living, the question of being forced to take the perilous path of emigration is often solved. This is all the more true when the issue of food sovereignty is also placed at the heart of governmental policy as is the case in certain countries like Mali. If we take all these aspects into account when we buy our fruit and vegetables for the week, it then becomes a reasonable choice to offset a bunch of fair Trade bananas (food miles, but Fair Trade) with a bag of locally grown organic apples (our own local farmers can survive)… ! And these are all aspects that ensure that a genuine local economy, a real economic alternative to the crisis situation can emerge, be it here in Europe or further afield.
Public Procurement policies: what role can the solidarity economy play?
Public authorities in Europe also have the ability to purchase goods on the best cost/price basis, or to include specific social or socio-political clauses. For small items, there is no need to go to tender. For larger amounts, where tenders are compulsory, the specifications may include such clauses as including disadvantaged workers and/or environmental clauses. Italy was the first country to have introduced the social dimension in public procurement in 1991, by reserving certain public markets for social co-operatives. This law had to be re-examined following objections by the European Commission. For the legal discussion on public procurement has now taken on a European dimension. In effect, the inclusion of social criteria in public tenders is still not mainstream practice.
While it is now quite a widespread and generally accepted approach in France to have organic food in school canteens (and so much the better!), the introduction of other products is more recent. An interesting example of just how far public procurement can be taken is the town of Nantes, where specific clauses in public tenders for uniforms for various Municipal services are based on the use of Fair Trade textile (organic cotton in particular). The difficulty here is essentially one of demand exceeding supply; this initiative will hopefully in time induce a whole market turn-around, with supply meeting the public demand for the product. Another key area is that of recycled paper.
Two cultural variables struck me rather forcefully, both during this meeting. The first is that whereas procurement in France tends to be top-down, based on a traditional hierarchical approach. This is a support-mechanism whereby regions, counties and cities are twinned at institutional level with those of the French ex-colonies of the South in the “Priority Solidarity Zone” of « decentralised co-operation », providing financial support for local development projects in many of these countries (often ex-colonies). Various associations, some of which are faith-based also support solidarity projects in the South. The approach in the United Kingdom is quite different. It is civil society and community-led, and frequently has to exert considerable pressure on Local Authorities to buy into projects. The Anglo-Saxon approach also generally includes faith-based NGOs. The role of civil society NGOs provides a bottom up impetus to economic alternatives.
The challenges of mainstreaming the sale of solidarity economy goods and services
Another aspect is the concept of risk-taking and procurement of alternative economy goods and services, even within the solidarity economy movement itself. Fair Trade and organic food are clearly identified products, irrespective of whether or not they are officially certified (this is another issue which is deliberately not addressed in this article). Certain other products and services are now accepted by consumers, be they private individuals or companies. Linux versus Microsoft is a good illustration. Someone buying a Linux system knows that they are not taking an inordinate risk. Yet there remains a general resistance when organising one-off alterglobalisation events, to working with alternative interpreting networks or systems, which are all too often perceived as unreliable, even where the contrary has been proven. This was sadly the case in the decisions taken at the World Social Forum in Belem, which resulted in limited events being covered by interpretation and a failure to enable participants to speak in the language of their own choice.
Is the underlying cause behind these decisions the fear of those in the purchasing seat that « their » event, inevitably a once-in-a-lifetime moment, might not be a success? Yet if people’s ability to take this sort of risk does not increase, how can genuine change occur? Posner and Schmidt in 1984 conducted a well-recognised survey on ethical behaviour and choice by managers. The results point very clearly to the importance of exemplarity, with the example of the behaviour of ones’ superiors being the single most important factor that determines behavioural choice. This means, by extrapolation, that the role played by local authorities in their choice of procurement has a huge potential knock-on effect and impact in terms of setting a positive example. First results of the Fair Trade Towns programme and the awareness it has raised, clearly bear this out. The same could certainly be said for purchasing of alternative goods and services if a little more effort were to be made in procurement.
In conclusion
The challenge facing social and solidarity economy are considerable if it is to occupy a greater place and continue to grow and build a fairer more solidarity-based economy. Only a holistic approach will lead to long-term solutions to the current multiple crises at local and international level, where products become linked to ILO labour standards, with ethical clauses, fair prices, food sovereignty, and lasting relationships. This implies both openness and a collective willingness to change, to take risks and explore alternatives.
Author: Judith Hitchman
Original article in English and in French
Our Newsletters are available on the WEB:http://local-development.blogspot.com/
www.apreis.org/
Special thanks to:
Évéline Poirier from Canada for the English translation
Brunilda Rafael from France for the Spanish translation
Michel Colin from Brazil for the Portuguese translation
To contact us (for information, feedback, to subscribe or unsubscribe):
Yvon Poirier ypoirier@videotron.ca
Newsletter #57
April 1st, 2009
Summary
Message from the Editorial Team
Musings on the mainstreaming of solidarity economy, public procurement and cultural difference
Message from the Editorial Team
In this issue, Judith shares her thoughts on the impact of solidarity economy in the European context: the inclusion of products which are designated either fair trade or organic in the procurement policies of the national or regional governments, local authorities , as well as large institutions like universities, major industrial or commercial groups. This issue is presently being discussed by several countries.
As reported in our last issue, militants in Brazil are calling for support of a Brazilian Bill on School meals, which ensures that at least 30% of canteen food in schools is sourced from local family farms and Solidarity Economy. In the same vein, RIPESS is proposing to launch a global campaign for public procurement and an ethical and responsible consumption of goods and services.
Judith's article provides an overview of some of the practical challenges encountered, especially in France and the UK. As the title of the article suggests, there are also many initiatives elsewhere. For example, Yvon is aware of two initiatives of the Early Childhood Centres’ Network of Quebec; they are the equivalent to childcare nurseries. Many of these centres purchase organic foods from local farmers. This helps create awareness of healthy eating in young children of preschool age and keeps their parents informed. These centres have also created a joint co-operative for the procurement of all their goods and services.
This question is on the agenda the Lux'09 meeting. It is transversal and concerns responsible consumption (Workshop 6), but also public policies (Workshop 1), networks (Workshop 9) or communication (workshop 10), etc.
All of our Editorial Team will be actively participating in the Luxembourg meeting!! We will share discussions and progress in the June 1st Newsletter, as it will not be possible for May 1st.
As we know that many of our readers will also be present, and we are very much looking forward to seeing you there.
Editorial Team
Judith Hitchman
Yvon Poirier
Martine Theveniaut
Musings on the mainstreaming of solidarity economy, public procurement and cultural difference.
This short article is based on a number of recent experiences and meetings with which I have been associated, mainly as interpreter, and is an attempt to further the understanding of readers as to some of the threats and opportunities inherent to the development of economic alternatives in the current global situation of multiple crises.
Fair Trade and buying local: a complementary approach?
A recent seminar organised by Max Havelaar for the Fair Trade Towns programme provided much food for thought. This programme which has European Union funding, uses the following definition:
« A Fairtrade Town is a town, city, village, county, zone, island or borough that has made a commitment to supporting Fairtrade and using products with the FAIRTRADE Mark. Any area can work towards Fairtrade status and everyone needs to be involved!
Community organisations, faith groups, businesses, schools and individuals all contribute to making their area a Fairtrade Town by pledging to do what they can to support Fairtrade and promote the FAIRTRADE Mark. »
Fair trade, along with local organic food and the short supply chain or direct producer-to-consumer production of food or goods, (particularly Local Solidarity Partnerships between Producers and Consumers: LSPPC) is a very strongly emerging trend today. While the first is based on the specific criteria of Fair Trade (cf Max Havelaar, WFTO – formerly IFAT – sites), the latter is based on principles of responsible consumption at local level. Both cut out the concept of middlemen, and ensure a decent living for the producers. This in itself means that while the producer is paid far more than if the goods are bought by supermarkets (who try to keep the prices paid to growers/producers to a minimum, and their own profit margins to a maximum), that the short chain means that prices that consumers pay are generally much the same as those of the ‘mainstream market economy’. The quality of food and goods is always very high.
The other key aspect is the respect of International Labor Organisation (ILO) conventions, which guarantee decent work conditions for all producers. And when people can earn a decent living, the question of being forced to take the perilous path of emigration is often solved. This is all the more true when the issue of food sovereignty is also placed at the heart of governmental policy as is the case in certain countries like Mali. If we take all these aspects into account when we buy our fruit and vegetables for the week, it then becomes a reasonable choice to offset a bunch of fair Trade bananas (food miles, but Fair Trade) with a bag of locally grown organic apples (our own local farmers can survive)… ! And these are all aspects that ensure that a genuine local economy, a real economic alternative to the crisis situation can emerge, be it here in Europe or further afield.
Public Procurement policies: what role can the solidarity economy play?
Public authorities in Europe also have the ability to purchase goods on the best cost/price basis, or to include specific social or socio-political clauses. For small items, there is no need to go to tender. For larger amounts, where tenders are compulsory, the specifications may include such clauses as including disadvantaged workers and/or environmental clauses. Italy was the first country to have introduced the social dimension in public procurement in 1991, by reserving certain public markets for social co-operatives. This law had to be re-examined following objections by the European Commission. For the legal discussion on public procurement has now taken on a European dimension. In effect, the inclusion of social criteria in public tenders is still not mainstream practice.
While it is now quite a widespread and generally accepted approach in France to have organic food in school canteens (and so much the better!), the introduction of other products is more recent. An interesting example of just how far public procurement can be taken is the town of Nantes, where specific clauses in public tenders for uniforms for various Municipal services are based on the use of Fair Trade textile (organic cotton in particular). The difficulty here is essentially one of demand exceeding supply; this initiative will hopefully in time induce a whole market turn-around, with supply meeting the public demand for the product. Another key area is that of recycled paper.
Two cultural variables struck me rather forcefully, both during this meeting. The first is that whereas procurement in France tends to be top-down, based on a traditional hierarchical approach. This is a support-mechanism whereby regions, counties and cities are twinned at institutional level with those of the French ex-colonies of the South in the “Priority Solidarity Zone” of « decentralised co-operation », providing financial support for local development projects in many of these countries (often ex-colonies). Various associations, some of which are faith-based also support solidarity projects in the South. The approach in the United Kingdom is quite different. It is civil society and community-led, and frequently has to exert considerable pressure on Local Authorities to buy into projects. The Anglo-Saxon approach also generally includes faith-based NGOs. The role of civil society NGOs provides a bottom up impetus to economic alternatives.
The challenges of mainstreaming the sale of solidarity economy goods and services
Another aspect is the concept of risk-taking and procurement of alternative economy goods and services, even within the solidarity economy movement itself. Fair Trade and organic food are clearly identified products, irrespective of whether or not they are officially certified (this is another issue which is deliberately not addressed in this article). Certain other products and services are now accepted by consumers, be they private individuals or companies. Linux versus Microsoft is a good illustration. Someone buying a Linux system knows that they are not taking an inordinate risk. Yet there remains a general resistance when organising one-off alterglobalisation events, to working with alternative interpreting networks or systems, which are all too often perceived as unreliable, even where the contrary has been proven. This was sadly the case in the decisions taken at the World Social Forum in Belem, which resulted in limited events being covered by interpretation and a failure to enable participants to speak in the language of their own choice.
Is the underlying cause behind these decisions the fear of those in the purchasing seat that « their » event, inevitably a once-in-a-lifetime moment, might not be a success? Yet if people’s ability to take this sort of risk does not increase, how can genuine change occur? Posner and Schmidt in 1984 conducted a well-recognised survey on ethical behaviour and choice by managers. The results point very clearly to the importance of exemplarity, with the example of the behaviour of ones’ superiors being the single most important factor that determines behavioural choice. This means, by extrapolation, that the role played by local authorities in their choice of procurement has a huge potential knock-on effect and impact in terms of setting a positive example. First results of the Fair Trade Towns programme and the awareness it has raised, clearly bear this out. The same could certainly be said for purchasing of alternative goods and services if a little more effort were to be made in procurement.
In conclusion
The challenge facing social and solidarity economy are considerable if it is to occupy a greater place and continue to grow and build a fairer more solidarity-based economy. Only a holistic approach will lead to long-term solutions to the current multiple crises at local and international level, where products become linked to ILO labour standards, with ethical clauses, fair prices, food sovereignty, and lasting relationships. This implies both openness and a collective willingness to change, to take risks and explore alternatives.
Author: Judith Hitchman
Original article in English and in French
Our Newsletters are available on the WEB:http://local-development.blogspot.com/
www.apreis.org/
Special thanks to:
Évéline Poirier from Canada for the English translation
Brunilda Rafael from France for the Spanish translation
Michel Colin from Brazil for the Portuguese translation
To contact us (for information, feedback, to subscribe or unsubscribe):
Yvon Poirier ypoirier@videotron.ca
Monday, March 02, 2009
International Newsletter on Sustainable Local Development
Newsletter #56
March 1st, 2009
Summary
Message from the Editorial Team
Proposals by the Solidarity Economy movement at the 2009 WSF
For a new economic and social model
Let’s put finance in its place!
A call for the signature of associations, trade unions and social movements Belem, February 1st 2009
Message from the Editorial Team
Yvon attended the WSF in Belem (Brazil), held from January 28th to February 1st 2009. During the course of this event, members of RIPESS working in close co-operation with the Brazilian Forum on Solidarity Economy (FBES) organized several workshops as well as participating in workshops being run by allied organizations.
In the current context of systemic, financial, and food crises, along with global warming and the economic recession, it appears that the media and some politicians seem to have discovered the wealth of this economy, not only in terms of potential job creation but also for its innovative content and potential for regenerating the economy. We could be self-congratulatory, but that would mean overlooking that the general economic slowdown will hit training programs, associations, small businesses, cooperatives, many workers and people very hard! Unlike banks, we cannot count on the massive financial support of governments!
The strength of the solidarity economy will be to operate more efficiently, by networking to enrich practice and overcome problems. It will not be able to succeed on its own, because of the complexity and the interdependence of the problems caused by neo-liberal globalization, but it can emerge as a powerful vector for the transformation of social relations. We do not know if there is an alternative to capitalism, but what is certain is that there is an economic alternative to total liberalism. The road will be difficult, complex and long. It begins with the alliance of the forces of progress united in these different currents of thought and action, in all continents to represent, lead and provide regular support for the construction of alternatives which are more human and interdependent.
Having participated in the RIPESS Board meeting as well as various workshops organized by RIPESS and its members during the WSF, Yvon would like to draw to your attention to two interesting documents.
To grasp the scope of the first article, "Proposals", including point # 5 of this text, we need to understand the word "territory" as referring to the places where the meetings were held, meaning close to the major thematic debate centres that attract large crowds. RIPESS is not a member of the WSF International Council, making it difficult to gain more formal recognition in the programming of forums, including the logistics of meetings.
In this issue, we present:
• Proposals that originated from organizations of Solidarity Economy present in Belém.
• A call for signatures for a new economic and social model: Let’s put finance in its place! Signed by several international organizations.
The Luxembourg meeting (www.lux09.lu) is an up-coming event, that will allow us to put forward proposals, and hopefully action plans which translate into reality.
Editorial Team
Judith Hitchman
Yvon Poirier
Martine Theveniaut
PROPOSALS BY THE SOLIDARITY ECONOMY MOVEMENT AT THE 2009 WSF
In light of the international economic crisis, we affirm that Social Solidarity Economy is one of the strategies that can enable sustainable economic growth; It can contribute to building a new model centred on the well-being of people in all 5 continents:
We, the workers and activists of the Solidarity Economy movement make the following proposals:
1. In the current context of global crisis, alternative economic practices are more than ever the response based on their history as new instruments of social and solidarity finance. It is therefore essential to recognize and support the creation of closer links between economics, sustainability and solidarity finances.
2. It is necessary to revitalize the role of the FAO within the UN system in order to ensure the right to food. This should done by recommending increased food production on family farms and solidarity economy projects. It is also as a means of creating jobs and sources of income to overcome rising unemployment in the world.
3. In future events, we wish to give greater political clout and more practical consistency to the physical construction of the World Social Forum, by ensuring that solidarity economy, local family farming, and materials with a low environmental impact play an ever-increasing part in the infrastructure.
4. We recommend the creation of a network of organizations for local and international economic solidarity exchanges, via the web, based on existing systems and using information technology/free media to jointly develop a network solution.
5. In the construction of future editions of the WSF, given the contribution of the Social Solidarity Economy to the globalization of solidarity, we recommend that the territory (in terms of the location) of the Social Solidarity Economy be geographically located near the main themes in order to design territories that take these affinities into account
6. We support the Brazilian Bill on School Nutrition, which ensures that at least 30% of school canteen food is sourced from local family farms and Solidarity Economy. This implies a strategic action in defence of food and nutritional security, and another model of development: local, supportive, sustainable and culturally diverse.
7. We propose to launch a global campaign for public procurement and for the ethical and responsible consumption of goods and services produced by the Solidarity Economy and family farming. We denounce the destructive impacts that result from the consumption of products of capitalist enterprises and multinational corporations.
8. We join other social movements around the world in their struggles for human dignity, well-being, the empowerment of peoples and the transformation of the current development model.
Proposals submitted and supported by:
Intercontinental Network for the Promotion of Social Solidarity Economy (RIPESS)
Brazilian Forum of Social Solidarity Economy (FBES)
February 1st 2009
Call for the signature of NGOs, trade unions and social movements
Belem, February 1st 2009
For a new economic and social model
Let’s put finance in its place!
The financial crisis is a systemic crisis that emerges in the context of global crises (climate, food, energy, social…) and of a new balance of power. It results from 30 years of transfer of income from labour towards capital. This tendency should be reversed. This crisis is the consequence of a capitalist system of production based on laissez-faire and fed by short term accumulation of profits by a minority, unequal redistribution of wealth, an unfair trade system, the perpetration and accumulation of irresponsible, ecological and illegitimate debt, natural resource plunder and the privatization of public services. This crisis affects the whole humanity, first of all the most vulnerable (workers, jobless, farmers, migrants, women…) and Southern countries, which are the victims of a crisis for which they are not at all responsible.
The resources to get out of the crisis merely burden the public with the losses in order to save, with no real public benefit, a financial system that is at the root of the current cataclysm. Where are the resources for the populations which are the victims of the crisis? The world not only needs regulations, but also a new paradigm which puts the financial system at the service of a new international democratic system based on the satisfaction of human rights, decent work, food sovereignty, respect for the environment, cultural diversity, the social and solidarity economy and a new concept of wealth.
Therefore, we demand to:
• Put a reformed and democratised United Nations at the heart of the financial system reform, as the G20 is not the legitimate forum to resolve this systemic crisis.
• Establish international permanent and binding mechanisms of control over capital flows.
• Implement an international monetary system based on a new system of reserves, including the creation of regional reserve currencies in order to end the current supremacy of the dollar and to ensure international financial stability.
• Implement a global mechanism of state and citizen control of banks and financial institutions. Financial intermediation should be recognised as a public service that is guaranteed to all citizens in the world and should be taken out of free trade agreements.
• Prohibit hedge funds and over the counter markets, where derivatives and other toxic products are exchanged without any public control.
• Eradicate speculation on commodities, first of all food and energy, by implementing public mechanisms of price stabilisation.
• Dismantle tax havens, sanction their users (individuals, companies, banks and financial intermediates) and create an international tax organisation to combat tax competition and evasion.
• Cancel unsustainable and illegitimate debt of impoverished countries and establish a system of democratic, accountable, fair sovereign borrowing and lending that serves sustainable and equitable development.
• Establish a new international system of wealth sharing by implementing a progressive tax system at the national level and by creating global taxes (on financial transactions, polluting activities and high income) to finance global public goods.
We call on NGOs, trade unions and social movements to converge in order to create a citizen struggle in favour of this new model. We urge them to mobilize all over the world, in particular in the face of the G20, from March 28th onwards.
Signatures of organizations and list of signatories at www.choike.org/gcrisis or signatures by email at finance@eurodad.org (indicating name of the organisation, country and email contact)
1. This call is the result of a series of seminars at the World Social Forum 2009 in Belem, which involved among others :
Action Aid, Attac, BankTrack, CADTM, CCFD, CEDLA, CNCD, CRID, Eurodad, Global alternatives Forum, IBON, International WG on Trade-Finance Linkages, LATINDADD, Networkers South-North, NIGD, SOMO, Tax Justice Network, Transform!, OWINFS, War on Want, World Council of Churches.
Our Newsletters are available on the WEB:
http://local-development.blogspot.com/
www.apreis.org/
Special thanks to:
Évéline Poirier from Canada for the English translation
Brunilda Rafael from France for the Spanish translation
Michel Colin from Brazil for the Portuguese translation
To contact us (for information, feedback, to subscribe or unsubscribe):
Yvon Poirier ypoirier@videotron.ca
Newsletter #56
March 1st, 2009
Summary
Message from the Editorial Team
Proposals by the Solidarity Economy movement at the 2009 WSF
For a new economic and social model
Let’s put finance in its place!
A call for the signature of associations, trade unions and social movements Belem, February 1st 2009
Message from the Editorial Team
Yvon attended the WSF in Belem (Brazil), held from January 28th to February 1st 2009. During the course of this event, members of RIPESS working in close co-operation with the Brazilian Forum on Solidarity Economy (FBES) organized several workshops as well as participating in workshops being run by allied organizations.
In the current context of systemic, financial, and food crises, along with global warming and the economic recession, it appears that the media and some politicians seem to have discovered the wealth of this economy, not only in terms of potential job creation but also for its innovative content and potential for regenerating the economy. We could be self-congratulatory, but that would mean overlooking that the general economic slowdown will hit training programs, associations, small businesses, cooperatives, many workers and people very hard! Unlike banks, we cannot count on the massive financial support of governments!
The strength of the solidarity economy will be to operate more efficiently, by networking to enrich practice and overcome problems. It will not be able to succeed on its own, because of the complexity and the interdependence of the problems caused by neo-liberal globalization, but it can emerge as a powerful vector for the transformation of social relations. We do not know if there is an alternative to capitalism, but what is certain is that there is an economic alternative to total liberalism. The road will be difficult, complex and long. It begins with the alliance of the forces of progress united in these different currents of thought and action, in all continents to represent, lead and provide regular support for the construction of alternatives which are more human and interdependent.
Having participated in the RIPESS Board meeting as well as various workshops organized by RIPESS and its members during the WSF, Yvon would like to draw to your attention to two interesting documents.
To grasp the scope of the first article, "Proposals", including point # 5 of this text, we need to understand the word "territory" as referring to the places where the meetings were held, meaning close to the major thematic debate centres that attract large crowds. RIPESS is not a member of the WSF International Council, making it difficult to gain more formal recognition in the programming of forums, including the logistics of meetings.
In this issue, we present:
• Proposals that originated from organizations of Solidarity Economy present in Belém.
• A call for signatures for a new economic and social model: Let’s put finance in its place! Signed by several international organizations.
The Luxembourg meeting (www.lux09.lu) is an up-coming event, that will allow us to put forward proposals, and hopefully action plans which translate into reality.
Editorial Team
Judith Hitchman
Yvon Poirier
Martine Theveniaut
PROPOSALS BY THE SOLIDARITY ECONOMY MOVEMENT AT THE 2009 WSF
In light of the international economic crisis, we affirm that Social Solidarity Economy is one of the strategies that can enable sustainable economic growth; It can contribute to building a new model centred on the well-being of people in all 5 continents:
We, the workers and activists of the Solidarity Economy movement make the following proposals:
1. In the current context of global crisis, alternative economic practices are more than ever the response based on their history as new instruments of social and solidarity finance. It is therefore essential to recognize and support the creation of closer links between economics, sustainability and solidarity finances.
2. It is necessary to revitalize the role of the FAO within the UN system in order to ensure the right to food. This should done by recommending increased food production on family farms and solidarity economy projects. It is also as a means of creating jobs and sources of income to overcome rising unemployment in the world.
3. In future events, we wish to give greater political clout and more practical consistency to the physical construction of the World Social Forum, by ensuring that solidarity economy, local family farming, and materials with a low environmental impact play an ever-increasing part in the infrastructure.
4. We recommend the creation of a network of organizations for local and international economic solidarity exchanges, via the web, based on existing systems and using information technology/free media to jointly develop a network solution.
5. In the construction of future editions of the WSF, given the contribution of the Social Solidarity Economy to the globalization of solidarity, we recommend that the territory (in terms of the location) of the Social Solidarity Economy be geographically located near the main themes in order to design territories that take these affinities into account
6. We support the Brazilian Bill on School Nutrition, which ensures that at least 30% of school canteen food is sourced from local family farms and Solidarity Economy. This implies a strategic action in defence of food and nutritional security, and another model of development: local, supportive, sustainable and culturally diverse.
7. We propose to launch a global campaign for public procurement and for the ethical and responsible consumption of goods and services produced by the Solidarity Economy and family farming. We denounce the destructive impacts that result from the consumption of products of capitalist enterprises and multinational corporations.
8. We join other social movements around the world in their struggles for human dignity, well-being, the empowerment of peoples and the transformation of the current development model.
Proposals submitted and supported by:
Intercontinental Network for the Promotion of Social Solidarity Economy (RIPESS)
Brazilian Forum of Social Solidarity Economy (FBES)
February 1st 2009
Call for the signature of NGOs, trade unions and social movements
Belem, February 1st 2009
For a new economic and social model
Let’s put finance in its place!
The financial crisis is a systemic crisis that emerges in the context of global crises (climate, food, energy, social…) and of a new balance of power. It results from 30 years of transfer of income from labour towards capital. This tendency should be reversed. This crisis is the consequence of a capitalist system of production based on laissez-faire and fed by short term accumulation of profits by a minority, unequal redistribution of wealth, an unfair trade system, the perpetration and accumulation of irresponsible, ecological and illegitimate debt, natural resource plunder and the privatization of public services. This crisis affects the whole humanity, first of all the most vulnerable (workers, jobless, farmers, migrants, women…) and Southern countries, which are the victims of a crisis for which they are not at all responsible.
The resources to get out of the crisis merely burden the public with the losses in order to save, with no real public benefit, a financial system that is at the root of the current cataclysm. Where are the resources for the populations which are the victims of the crisis? The world not only needs regulations, but also a new paradigm which puts the financial system at the service of a new international democratic system based on the satisfaction of human rights, decent work, food sovereignty, respect for the environment, cultural diversity, the social and solidarity economy and a new concept of wealth.
Therefore, we demand to:
• Put a reformed and democratised United Nations at the heart of the financial system reform, as the G20 is not the legitimate forum to resolve this systemic crisis.
• Establish international permanent and binding mechanisms of control over capital flows.
• Implement an international monetary system based on a new system of reserves, including the creation of regional reserve currencies in order to end the current supremacy of the dollar and to ensure international financial stability.
• Implement a global mechanism of state and citizen control of banks and financial institutions. Financial intermediation should be recognised as a public service that is guaranteed to all citizens in the world and should be taken out of free trade agreements.
• Prohibit hedge funds and over the counter markets, where derivatives and other toxic products are exchanged without any public control.
• Eradicate speculation on commodities, first of all food and energy, by implementing public mechanisms of price stabilisation.
• Dismantle tax havens, sanction their users (individuals, companies, banks and financial intermediates) and create an international tax organisation to combat tax competition and evasion.
• Cancel unsustainable and illegitimate debt of impoverished countries and establish a system of democratic, accountable, fair sovereign borrowing and lending that serves sustainable and equitable development.
• Establish a new international system of wealth sharing by implementing a progressive tax system at the national level and by creating global taxes (on financial transactions, polluting activities and high income) to finance global public goods.
We call on NGOs, trade unions and social movements to converge in order to create a citizen struggle in favour of this new model. We urge them to mobilize all over the world, in particular in the face of the G20, from March 28th onwards.
Signatures of organizations and list of signatories at www.choike.org/gcrisis or signatures by email at finance@eurodad.org (indicating name of the organisation, country and email contact)
1. This call is the result of a series of seminars at the World Social Forum 2009 in Belem, which involved among others :
Action Aid, Attac, BankTrack, CADTM, CCFD, CEDLA, CNCD, CRID, Eurodad, Global alternatives Forum, IBON, International WG on Trade-Finance Linkages, LATINDADD, Networkers South-North, NIGD, SOMO, Tax Justice Network, Transform!, OWINFS, War on Want, World Council of Churches.
Our Newsletters are available on the WEB:
http://local-development.blogspot.com/
www.apreis.org/
Special thanks to:
Évéline Poirier from Canada for the English translation
Brunilda Rafael from France for the Spanish translation
Michel Colin from Brazil for the Portuguese translation
To contact us (for information, feedback, to subscribe or unsubscribe):
Yvon Poirier ypoirier@videotron.ca
Saturday, February 14, 2009
International Newsletter on Sustainable Local Development
Newsletter #55
February 1st, 2009
Summary
Message from the Editorial Team
Rickshaw Bank in India
An initiative for alternative employment
4th International Forum on the Globalisation of Solidarity
An invitation to participate
Message from the Editorial Team
As 2009 begins, all we hear is talk of armed conflicts and the chain effects of a recession that could escalate into a major economic depression. Like always, it is the individuals and people who are the most destitute, the most vulnerable, who suffer the most. As in the 1930s, the starting point of the crisis is the most powerful country, the one that has imposed the form and conditions of globalization. We are all concerned and potentially threatened by what is happening. That is why it is essential today to contribute our own thoughts and make our proposals.
The dogmas that we have spent many years denouncing, like deregulation, privatization, and unsustainable consumption in wealthy countries are finally being queried. This provides us with an opportunity to assert that another economy exists.
We have supported change for over twenty years. These changes have progressively spread internationally and recently been reaffirmed at the World Social Forum in Belem, Brazil in January; this will continue in the run up to the 4th International Meeting of Globalization of Solidarity in Luxemburg in April 2009. The future of our alternatives is bright. The actors of social solidarity economy will have the chance of having their message heard in the coming months. We must seize this opportunity for building convergences and alliances and acting together.
We are happy to share a very interesting innovation by and for the poorest with you in this newsletter. As we have repeatedly said, innovation and creativity of alternative approaches, based on the empowerment of people themselves in their economic activity, is one of the key resources, perhaps the most valuable means of changing the course of events.
It is a powerful motivation for all of us.
Editorial Team
Judith Hitchman
Yvon Poirier
Martine Theveniaut
Rickshaw Bank in India
An initiative for alternative employment
In India, as in many other countries, people who are uprooted from rural life where they no longer manage to survive, try to improve their situation by moving to urban areas. However, due to a lack of training and skills, they simply increase the number of people living in poverty, often in atrocious conditions. There are currently 8 million rickshaw pullers in India of whom 95 percent do not own their vehicle due to lack of funds. In India, rickshaws are modified tricycles used to transport passengers or goods. To earn a meager living, pullers are obliged to rent them on a daily basis at rates that could be considered excessive (usually controlled by a form of mafia). Out of the average daily income of 75 rupees, pullers are obliged to pay the owner 25 rupees (50 rupees is equivalent to $1 US). And as they do not have an insurance policy, they are in a vulnerable situation if an accident occurs and passengers get hurt. Generally speaking, five people live on this income.
Dr. Pradip Kumar Sarmah, Executive Director of the Centre for Rural Development and a veterinarian by profession identified this problem and tried to find a solution to help these rural people; he thought that the best way was to develop a project that allowed drivers to own their rickshaws.
The project : the Rickshaw Bank
The idea of the Rickshaw Bank was born in 2004. Following a number of trials, a system has been established since 2006 to allow self-employed workers to become independent owners of their rickshaws. In addition, the project includes many innovations:
• A new rickshaw has been developed with the help of the India Institute of Technology using materials that are lighter and more aerodynamic
• The new design makes it possible to install advertising, which increases revenue
• Bank loans now exist to buy their rickshaw, with the help of a development NGO, following agreements with financial institutions and ministries
• The loan is fully repaid within a 12 - 24 month period as pullers use a payment plan equivalent to the same amount of 25 rupees a day they used to pay previous owners
• The loan of approximately 13,000 rupees for the rickshaw also covers money for a uniform, an identity card, a license and two-year insurance
• Solidarity forms within the group as drivers are divided into groups of five (along the lines of loan circles in micro-finance). Every five groups (making up 25 drivers) have a garage to maintain and repair their rickshaws. This place, which is also used for families to access cooking gas, produces a sense of community and becomes a place for exchanging ideas.
More than 3000 drivers have already become owners, and there are so many requests that the Centre for Rural Development can no longer meet the demand. It is important to mention that the project received high visibility in the media, including national television and newspapers. As the project is supported by the different levels of government, and Ministers are often present at launches in new cities, public awareness of the project has increased. It is now planned to expand the project by granting franchises to other organizations throughout India.
The impact
The project is already demonstrating an impact on sustainable community development. This is true at three levels:
• Social - improving the health of drivers and their families; better opportunities for children to go to school, improving law and order (less control by the mafia) and creation of a more positive working environment.
• Environmental - an alternative to the use of fossil fuels (cars) and access to more environmentally friendly cooking gas
• Economic - access to ownership of a rickshaw increases income and living standards, access to financial resources, job creation for young people and opportunities for local companies to increase their sales
The future – the Soleckshaw
A new experimental model of rickshaw, operating on an electric motor with a battery charged by solar energy is being tested in New Delhi. Launched with the participation of the Ministry of Science of India, it is hoped to use the Soleckshaw on a large scale during the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
It is a well-known fact that the density of population in the cities of India is such that eco-friendly transportation must be found to move people and goods. While allowing a significant improvement in living conditions for the very poor, the Rickshaw Bank seeks to improve urban life, and with the large-scale introduction of solar-powered rickshaws, the physical demands on drivers will also be considerably improved.
Author : Yvon Poirier
Summary of a presentation at the COMMACT Conference in Brisbane, Australia, October 2008
For further information: www.crdev.org
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4963756.ece
4th International Meeting on the Globalisation of Solidarity
An invitation to participate
The European Steering Committee is actively preparing for the Lux'09 Forum scheduled to be held from April 22nd – 25th, 2009 in Schifflange et Kulturfabrik (Luxemburg). Almost all the members were present when it met January 9th and 10th, 2009 in Saint Omer (in the region of Nord Pas de Calais, France). This location was chosen in response to an invitation by the working platform hosted by the Pactes Locaux. This collective was holding their 5th and final stage of regional capitalization of experiences on the theme of democratic participation and territorial anchoring. This will be the theme of workshop No. 7, one of the 14 scheduled for LUX09. There is an interactive on-line forum for each of these workshops which covers various themes. See - www.lux09.lu
The sum of the contributions of the workshops is intended to bring food for thought to the theme chosen by the Europeans, and validated by RIPESS (Intercontinental Network for the Promotion of Economic and Social Solidarity), for this IV Meeting of the Globalization of Solidarity: Another economy exists: the innovations of the social solidarity economy. Our world is currently undergoing a deep crisis of the growth model. This model has produced unsustainable and deeply unfair globalization. The actors of the social and solidarity economy are aware that Lux'09 represents an important moment and an opportunity to take a step forward. It provides the opportunity based on their collective advances to move out of the woods and assert themselves as stakeholders who can change the rules of the game and move beyond the crisis by coming up with solutions of excellence.
The April deadline is fast approaching and pre-registration is now possible on-line on the site already mentioned above that is dedicated to the forum, and moderated by INEES (European Institute for Solidarity based Economy). We would like to take this opportunity to remind interested persons who wish to participate in Lux'09 that active contribution to on-line discussions is highly encouraged. In fact this is one of the conditions for fully joining in the process. Go for it!
Martine Theveniaut
General Delegate, Pactes Locaux-Lux’09
www.pactes-locaux.org
Our Newsletters are available on the WEB:
http://local-development.blogspot.com/
www.apreis.org/
Special thanks to:
Évéline Poirier from Canada for the English translation
Brunilda Rafael from France for the Spanish translation
Michel Colin from Brazil for the Portuguese translation
To contact us (for information, feedback, to subscribe or unsubscribe):
Yvon Poirier ypoirier@videotron.ca
Newsletter #55
February 1st, 2009
Summary
Message from the Editorial Team
Rickshaw Bank in India
An initiative for alternative employment
4th International Forum on the Globalisation of Solidarity
An invitation to participate
Message from the Editorial Team
As 2009 begins, all we hear is talk of armed conflicts and the chain effects of a recession that could escalate into a major economic depression. Like always, it is the individuals and people who are the most destitute, the most vulnerable, who suffer the most. As in the 1930s, the starting point of the crisis is the most powerful country, the one that has imposed the form and conditions of globalization. We are all concerned and potentially threatened by what is happening. That is why it is essential today to contribute our own thoughts and make our proposals.
The dogmas that we have spent many years denouncing, like deregulation, privatization, and unsustainable consumption in wealthy countries are finally being queried. This provides us with an opportunity to assert that another economy exists.
We have supported change for over twenty years. These changes have progressively spread internationally and recently been reaffirmed at the World Social Forum in Belem, Brazil in January; this will continue in the run up to the 4th International Meeting of Globalization of Solidarity in Luxemburg in April 2009. The future of our alternatives is bright. The actors of social solidarity economy will have the chance of having their message heard in the coming months. We must seize this opportunity for building convergences and alliances and acting together.
We are happy to share a very interesting innovation by and for the poorest with you in this newsletter. As we have repeatedly said, innovation and creativity of alternative approaches, based on the empowerment of people themselves in their economic activity, is one of the key resources, perhaps the most valuable means of changing the course of events.
It is a powerful motivation for all of us.
Editorial Team
Judith Hitchman
Yvon Poirier
Martine Theveniaut
Rickshaw Bank in India
An initiative for alternative employment
In India, as in many other countries, people who are uprooted from rural life where they no longer manage to survive, try to improve their situation by moving to urban areas. However, due to a lack of training and skills, they simply increase the number of people living in poverty, often in atrocious conditions. There are currently 8 million rickshaw pullers in India of whom 95 percent do not own their vehicle due to lack of funds. In India, rickshaws are modified tricycles used to transport passengers or goods. To earn a meager living, pullers are obliged to rent them on a daily basis at rates that could be considered excessive (usually controlled by a form of mafia). Out of the average daily income of 75 rupees, pullers are obliged to pay the owner 25 rupees (50 rupees is equivalent to $1 US). And as they do not have an insurance policy, they are in a vulnerable situation if an accident occurs and passengers get hurt. Generally speaking, five people live on this income.
Dr. Pradip Kumar Sarmah, Executive Director of the Centre for Rural Development and a veterinarian by profession identified this problem and tried to find a solution to help these rural people; he thought that the best way was to develop a project that allowed drivers to own their rickshaws.
The project : the Rickshaw Bank
The idea of the Rickshaw Bank was born in 2004. Following a number of trials, a system has been established since 2006 to allow self-employed workers to become independent owners of their rickshaws. In addition, the project includes many innovations:
• A new rickshaw has been developed with the help of the India Institute of Technology using materials that are lighter and more aerodynamic
• The new design makes it possible to install advertising, which increases revenue
• Bank loans now exist to buy their rickshaw, with the help of a development NGO, following agreements with financial institutions and ministries
• The loan is fully repaid within a 12 - 24 month period as pullers use a payment plan equivalent to the same amount of 25 rupees a day they used to pay previous owners
• The loan of approximately 13,000 rupees for the rickshaw also covers money for a uniform, an identity card, a license and two-year insurance
• Solidarity forms within the group as drivers are divided into groups of five (along the lines of loan circles in micro-finance). Every five groups (making up 25 drivers) have a garage to maintain and repair their rickshaws. This place, which is also used for families to access cooking gas, produces a sense of community and becomes a place for exchanging ideas.
More than 3000 drivers have already become owners, and there are so many requests that the Centre for Rural Development can no longer meet the demand. It is important to mention that the project received high visibility in the media, including national television and newspapers. As the project is supported by the different levels of government, and Ministers are often present at launches in new cities, public awareness of the project has increased. It is now planned to expand the project by granting franchises to other organizations throughout India.
The impact
The project is already demonstrating an impact on sustainable community development. This is true at three levels:
• Social - improving the health of drivers and their families; better opportunities for children to go to school, improving law and order (less control by the mafia) and creation of a more positive working environment.
• Environmental - an alternative to the use of fossil fuels (cars) and access to more environmentally friendly cooking gas
• Economic - access to ownership of a rickshaw increases income and living standards, access to financial resources, job creation for young people and opportunities for local companies to increase their sales
The future – the Soleckshaw
A new experimental model of rickshaw, operating on an electric motor with a battery charged by solar energy is being tested in New Delhi. Launched with the participation of the Ministry of Science of India, it is hoped to use the Soleckshaw on a large scale during the 2010 Commonwealth Games.
It is a well-known fact that the density of population in the cities of India is such that eco-friendly transportation must be found to move people and goods. While allowing a significant improvement in living conditions for the very poor, the Rickshaw Bank seeks to improve urban life, and with the large-scale introduction of solar-powered rickshaws, the physical demands on drivers will also be considerably improved.
Author : Yvon Poirier
Summary of a presentation at the COMMACT Conference in Brisbane, Australia, October 2008
For further information: www.crdev.org
http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/asia/article4963756.ece
4th International Meeting on the Globalisation of Solidarity
An invitation to participate
The European Steering Committee is actively preparing for the Lux'09 Forum scheduled to be held from April 22nd – 25th, 2009 in Schifflange et Kulturfabrik (Luxemburg). Almost all the members were present when it met January 9th and 10th, 2009 in Saint Omer (in the region of Nord Pas de Calais, France). This location was chosen in response to an invitation by the working platform hosted by the Pactes Locaux. This collective was holding their 5th and final stage of regional capitalization of experiences on the theme of democratic participation and territorial anchoring. This will be the theme of workshop No. 7, one of the 14 scheduled for LUX09. There is an interactive on-line forum for each of these workshops which covers various themes. See - www.lux09.lu
The sum of the contributions of the workshops is intended to bring food for thought to the theme chosen by the Europeans, and validated by RIPESS (Intercontinental Network for the Promotion of Economic and Social Solidarity), for this IV Meeting of the Globalization of Solidarity: Another economy exists: the innovations of the social solidarity economy. Our world is currently undergoing a deep crisis of the growth model. This model has produced unsustainable and deeply unfair globalization. The actors of the social and solidarity economy are aware that Lux'09 represents an important moment and an opportunity to take a step forward. It provides the opportunity based on their collective advances to move out of the woods and assert themselves as stakeholders who can change the rules of the game and move beyond the crisis by coming up with solutions of excellence.
The April deadline is fast approaching and pre-registration is now possible on-line on the site already mentioned above that is dedicated to the forum, and moderated by INEES (European Institute for Solidarity based Economy). We would like to take this opportunity to remind interested persons who wish to participate in Lux'09 that active contribution to on-line discussions is highly encouraged. In fact this is one of the conditions for fully joining in the process. Go for it!
Martine Theveniaut
General Delegate, Pactes Locaux-Lux’09
www.pactes-locaux.org
Our Newsletters are available on the WEB:
http://local-development.blogspot.com/
www.apreis.org/
Special thanks to:
Évéline Poirier from Canada for the English translation
Brunilda Rafael from France for the Spanish translation
Michel Colin from Brazil for the Portuguese translation
To contact us (for information, feedback, to subscribe or unsubscribe):
Yvon Poirier ypoirier@videotron.ca
Tuesday, December 02, 2008
International Newsletter on Sustainable Local Development
Newsletter #54
December 1st, 2008
Summary
Message from the Editorial Team
Mondragon Cooperative Corporation
A critical analysis of the strengths, weaknesses and potentialities of the model
Bamako Declaration
Fair tourism as a vehicle for sustainable development of territories
International Conference of La Via Campesina, Maputo, Mozambique
The challenges of an international movement of peasants
Message from the Editorial Team
The Mondragon Cooperative Corporation (MCC) is known as one of the largest cooperatives in the industrial world. Judith Hitchman presents an article following her meeting with the Communications Manager of the MCC last September. This is not an exhaustive analysis of the challenges facing the MCC, but helps us to understand the key issues of governance and management of a large cooperative, on an international scale.
On the other hand, we bring to your attention the main results of meetings attended by Martine and Judith : the International Forum on Solidarity Tourism (Fair Tourism) in Bamako, Mali (FITS) and the fifth International Conference of La Via Campesina in Maputo, Mozambique.
As our next issue will appear in February 2009, we extend to you our best wishes and hopes for peace and prosperity in the New Year. We are also making collective wishes that the seriousness of the financial, economic, food and environmental crisis engages key leaders to initiate the radical transformation that the world needs. May 2009 bring positive outcomes is our utmost wish!
Editorial Team
Judith Hitchman
Yvon Poirier
Martine Theveniaut
Mondragon Cooperative Corporation
A critical analysis of the strengths, weaknesses and potentialities of the model
Many people are aware of Mondragon, often flaunted as the prototype of a successful industrial co-operative, in a world where the co-operative model is more generally identified with the agricultural or services sectors. We were recently the privileged visitors at the headquarters, and spent a long afternoon in the company of Mikel Lezamiz, the Communications Manager, who kindly devoted his time to us.
The history.
In 1941 Don José Arizmendiarrieta arrived in the small town of Mondragon, situated in the heart of the Spanish Basque country. In 1943 he founded the professional polytechnic school, followed some ten years later (1956) by the first co-op, ULGOR where the FAGOR brand of white goods is manufactured. Three years later, the Caja Laboral, a co-operative bank and Lagun Aro, the in-house welfare system, came into being. The first co-operative group (ULARCO-FAGOR) was born in 1964, followed two years later by one of the more innovative aspects, ALECOP, a plant where part-time jobs are reserved for students in order to enable them to earn a living while studying. It should remembered that Spain, and this region in particular, was still extremely poverty-stricken at the time, and still recovering from the Civil War. In 1974 a research centre was born, and progressively the vast empire of what is now the Mondragon Co-operative Corporation developed. The present form was designated by the Mondragon Congress of Co-ops in 1991.
What is Mondragon today and how does it operate?
Mondragon today is indeed an empire, comprising something over 103,000 people, 120 co-operatives, in the fields of products ranging from industrial, financial, consumer goods, agricultural, educational, research and welfare services. The 69 production plants are situated in many countries around the world, and are not all co-operatives for reasons explained below. In the co-operative Supermarket, EROSKI, the members include consumers. The representation in all the Co-ops also includes a health and safety Committee.
According to the mission statement:
Mondragón Co-operative Corporation (MCC) is an entrepreneurial socioeconomic entity with deep cultural roots in the Basque Country, created by and for the people, inspired by the Basic Principles of our Co-operative Experience, committed to the community, to the improvement of competitiveness and to the satisfaction of customers, to create wealth within society through entrepreneurial development and job creation, preferably membership-jobs in co-operatives.
MCC is based on a commitment to solidarity and uses democratic methods for its organisation and management
MCC encourages the participation and integration of people in management, profits and ownership of their companies, to develop a joint, harmonising project aimed at social, business and personal development.
The 10 Founding principles of co-operation:
1.Open Admission.
2.Democratic Organization.
3.Sovereignty of Labor.
4.Instrumental and Subordinate Nature of Capital.
5.Participatory Management.
6.Wage Solidarity.
7.Interco-operation.
8.Social Transformation.
9.Universality.
10.Education
The price of buying into the co-operative system is fixed at 14,000€, which is withheld from salary over a period of time. Being a member of one of the group’s co-ops entitles all members to an equal share in 20% of the corporation’s surplus. Other benefits include the automatic admission to the in-house welfare system (additional health-care and retirement benefits, preferential loan rates…), and relative job security. The level of life-long training and education is also high, following the 10% national requirement. Access to the technical university, management and language training centres is also guaranteed.
The first positive fact is that in spite of being a multi-national corporation, there have been no delocalisations in the various co-operatives in Spain and the Basque country (Industry, supermarkets, research centres, bank branches and provision of services, 90% of the staff are members of co-ops). The remaining staff (often less than 5%) also have some measure of flexicurity. In 2007, 10 co-ops made a loss. In 2008 this is expected to double, so this will be a key issue in the near future. Various for-profit companies are in the process of becoming co-ops.
What are the strengths and also the weaknesses of the model?
I tried to examine the way in which these principles were implemented in terms of the solidarity economy, which aims to create a more collective form of wealth and well-being, and to see how or whether a multinational corporation could serve the interests of local communities and people.
When faced with the tricky question on the sourcing of products, particularly in the EROSKI supermarkets, knowing how intensive agriculture in the south of Spain is often practiced in conditions that are the modern-day equivalent of slavery, I learned that the chain has had SA 8000 certification for the last two years. This technically means that human rights are thoroughly implemented, decent work respected (including by suppliers), and no child labour involved at any level. Not all products have been covered, but the process is on-going. The Fagor co-op, although not certified also works to SA 8000 standards.
Being a member of a co-operative also involves sharing the risks and accepting a cut in wages in periods of recession…And with the global recession, there will certainly be fewer jobs, be it in Spain or elsewhere. The social impacts are bound to be felt as much in co-operatives as elsewhere.
The many production plants world-wide are not however co-ops. Cultural differences in accepting the universal participative management style and co-operative principles would appear more than anything to be the reason. On the plus side however, they combine the Just-In-Time delivery of spare parts to clients with a minimal carbon footprint. Many are hardly beyond the start-up phase, and not yet profitable, but there is the same transparency of information, an attempt at the same management style and 30% worker-ownership (in the form of shares in the companies) as well as a dedicated sum of 5% profits being reinvested in sustainable local development projects. In many cultures where the corporation is present, there is no history of saving money, which also makes simple profit-sharing more difficult. The implementation of welfare or pension schemes have a greater social impact. It is also worth mentioning that the rate of pay is always at least 10% over the national minimum. Nevertheless the cultural limits of the model remain, even if the philosophy remains intact.
All of this means that there is an exceptionally high level of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility). There is a stated will to ensure that Human Rights be fully respected at all times, as well as regulatory compliance, dignity and respect and transparency. The governance model is of a high standard, based on the principle of inter-co-operation and worker control.
An unanswered question: the non-existence of trade unions
Although the co-operative principle of one man, one vote means that there is clear democratic representation, the role of a union reaches far beyond the simple tenet of representation. Particularly when times are tough. Trade Unions also provide the means for workers to remain connected to those outside their own enterprise and sector.
At the end of the day, in a transnational corporation whose products are based on consumer society’s race to produce ever more, the question of the real intrinsic limits of the system is a fundamental issue. Can the co-operative model prevail, and transform society into a more reasoned approach to human beings use of all things? Or will the fact that the production of goods so intimately linked to the capitalist and neo-liberal model be the downfall of what is certainly a uniquely interesting attempt to provide a wider share of the cake at grass-roots level? As Mikel Lezamiz said “We are not angels”…
Author: Judith Hitchman
Original article in English and French
www.mcc.es
Bamako Declaration
Final statement for a fair tourism as a development vehicle of territories
The 3rd International Forum on Solidarity Tourism (Fair Tourism) held in Bamako, Mali from October 20th - 22nd, 2008 was preceded by 3 days of groundwork meetings. The Forum concluded with a declaration whose main points are listed below.
Workshops as round tables showed the significance of favouring, with a development purpose, a territorial approach within which tourism can have a decisive role.
The main issue of such a development is, on the one hand, to contribute to enhance populations’ quality of life who live on these territories and, on the other hand, to protect the natural resources of those territories.
Beyond the various expressions used to name « fair tourism », this one really must integrate the sustainable development objective.
Actors and partners for a fair tourism are invited to refer to the framework and values of what is called today “the social and fair economy”, considering particularities of world regions or countries.
Some operational main lines seem to have priority in order to reach the sustainable development objective through fair tourism:
• Getting public authorities to increase policy support towards fair tourism
• Creating and clarifying appropriate legislative and regulation frameworks to fair tourism
• Favouring local and regional government involvement
• Including fair tourism in an approach that encourages linkages with the whole activities of the territory
• Developing and strengthening means of support (training, financing, accompanying measures, etc.)
• Heightening the setting up and the networking of actors and territories favouring
• existing facilities in order to avoid activities breaking up
• Ensuring a quality-based fair tourism offer that is adapted to customers’ expectations
• Defining better conditions to enter the market.
We must now, all together, go from theory to action: this is our ambition at the end of this 3rd forum, as we are, from now on, aware of the deep duty to reach the objectives for which we are gathered.
Authors: Martine Théveniaut and Alain Laurent, participants at FITS and the workshop of Teriya Bugue.
See the report of this workshop on the site (under construction): www.pactes-locaux.org (French only)
See Base de fiches. Sphère : pactes ; Identifiant : INV ; mot de passe : pactes
International Conference of La Via Campesina, Maputo, Mozambique
The challenges of an international movement of peasants
The fifth International conference of La Via Campesina took place in Maputo, Mozambique from October 19th to 22nd, 2008. It was preceded by the International Youth Conference and the Women’s Assembly.
In the context of the current four-fold global crises – food, finance, energy and climate – these dimensions take on a significant new meaning for this movement which is already 15 years old. The logic of sustainable development that includes the possibility to reassert peoples’ rights to grow healthy, affordable local food is finding an echo like never before. A significant effort is still required to fight Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), which facilitate dumping of the overproduction of industrial agriculture, as well as advocating for a relocalised small scale model based on local empowerment, agrarian reform.
These issues were discussed in plenary and continental sessions by the 500 delegates from every continent present in Maputo. The conference was remarkably well organised and efficient, with a team of 50 interpreters co-ordinated by the collective Lyre.
« The Via Campesina is the international movement of peasants, small- and medium-sized producers, landless, rural women, indigenous people, rural youth and agricultural workers. It is a global, autonomous, pluralist and multicultural movement, independent of any political, economic, or other type of affiliation.
The movement is already some 15 years old. The Fourth International Conference took place in Maputo (Mozambique) from 19th – 22nd October. It was preceded by both the international Youth Conference and the Women’s Assembly.
The core objective of La Via Campesina is to develop solidarity and unity among small farmer organizations in order to promote gender parity and social justice in fair economic relations; the preservation of land, water, seeds and other natural resources; food sovereignty, as well as sustainable agricultural production based on small and medium-sized producers.
La Via Campesina promotes a model of peasant or family-farm agriculture based on sustainable production with local resources and in harmony with local culture and traditions. Peasants and farmers rely on a long experience with their locally available resources. This means producing the optimal quantity and quality of food with few external inputs. Production is mainly for family consumption and domestic markets.
Food sovereignty is the RIGHT of peoples, countries, and state unions to define their agricultural and food policy without the “dumping” of agricultural commodities into foreign countries. Food sovereignty organizes food production and consumption according to the needs of local communities, giving priority to production for local consumption. Food sovereignty includes the right to protect and regulate the national agricultural and livestock production and to shield the domestic market from the dumping of agricultural surpluses and low-price imports from other countries. Landless people, peasants, and small farmers must get access to land, water, and seed as well as productive resources and adequate public services. Food sovereignty and sustainability are a higher priority than trade policies.
The current industrialized agribusiness model has been deliberately planned for the complete vertical integration and to dominate all agriculture activities. This model exploits workers and concentrates economic and political power. La Via Campesina advocates a decentralized model where production, processing, distribution and consumption are controlled by the people the communities themselves and not by transnational corporations. »
Two of the decisions :
• The decision to create strategic alliances with other organisations to jointly take advantage of the international crises and move forward towards a more sustainable and equitable system
• The introduction of the campaign to end all violence against women (physical, mental and institutional). The latter campaign is in conjunction with the World March of Women, whose General Assembly took place at the same time in Galicia in Spain.
The final declaration can be found at : http://www.viacampesina.org/main_en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=623&Itemid=68
Judith Hitchman, interpreter and member of the Lyre collective
Original article in English and French
Our Newsletters are available on the WEB:
http://local-development.blogspot.com/
www.apreis.org/
Special thanks to:
Évéline Poirier from Canada for the English translation
Brunilda Rafael from France for the Spanish translation
Michel Colin from Brazil for the Portuguese translation
To contact us (for information, feedback, to subscribe or unsubscribe):
Yvon Poirier ypoirier@videotron.ca
Newsletter #54
December 1st, 2008
Summary
Message from the Editorial Team
Mondragon Cooperative Corporation
A critical analysis of the strengths, weaknesses and potentialities of the model
Bamako Declaration
Fair tourism as a vehicle for sustainable development of territories
International Conference of La Via Campesina, Maputo, Mozambique
The challenges of an international movement of peasants
Message from the Editorial Team
The Mondragon Cooperative Corporation (MCC) is known as one of the largest cooperatives in the industrial world. Judith Hitchman presents an article following her meeting with the Communications Manager of the MCC last September. This is not an exhaustive analysis of the challenges facing the MCC, but helps us to understand the key issues of governance and management of a large cooperative, on an international scale.
On the other hand, we bring to your attention the main results of meetings attended by Martine and Judith : the International Forum on Solidarity Tourism (Fair Tourism) in Bamako, Mali (FITS) and the fifth International Conference of La Via Campesina in Maputo, Mozambique.
As our next issue will appear in February 2009, we extend to you our best wishes and hopes for peace and prosperity in the New Year. We are also making collective wishes that the seriousness of the financial, economic, food and environmental crisis engages key leaders to initiate the radical transformation that the world needs. May 2009 bring positive outcomes is our utmost wish!
Editorial Team
Judith Hitchman
Yvon Poirier
Martine Theveniaut
Mondragon Cooperative Corporation
A critical analysis of the strengths, weaknesses and potentialities of the model
Many people are aware of Mondragon, often flaunted as the prototype of a successful industrial co-operative, in a world where the co-operative model is more generally identified with the agricultural or services sectors. We were recently the privileged visitors at the headquarters, and spent a long afternoon in the company of Mikel Lezamiz, the Communications Manager, who kindly devoted his time to us.
The history.
In 1941 Don José Arizmendiarrieta arrived in the small town of Mondragon, situated in the heart of the Spanish Basque country. In 1943 he founded the professional polytechnic school, followed some ten years later (1956) by the first co-op, ULGOR where the FAGOR brand of white goods is manufactured. Three years later, the Caja Laboral, a co-operative bank and Lagun Aro, the in-house welfare system, came into being. The first co-operative group (ULARCO-FAGOR) was born in 1964, followed two years later by one of the more innovative aspects, ALECOP, a plant where part-time jobs are reserved for students in order to enable them to earn a living while studying. It should remembered that Spain, and this region in particular, was still extremely poverty-stricken at the time, and still recovering from the Civil War. In 1974 a research centre was born, and progressively the vast empire of what is now the Mondragon Co-operative Corporation developed. The present form was designated by the Mondragon Congress of Co-ops in 1991.
What is Mondragon today and how does it operate?
Mondragon today is indeed an empire, comprising something over 103,000 people, 120 co-operatives, in the fields of products ranging from industrial, financial, consumer goods, agricultural, educational, research and welfare services. The 69 production plants are situated in many countries around the world, and are not all co-operatives for reasons explained below. In the co-operative Supermarket, EROSKI, the members include consumers. The representation in all the Co-ops also includes a health and safety Committee.
According to the mission statement:
Mondragón Co-operative Corporation (MCC) is an entrepreneurial socioeconomic entity with deep cultural roots in the Basque Country, created by and for the people, inspired by the Basic Principles of our Co-operative Experience, committed to the community, to the improvement of competitiveness and to the satisfaction of customers, to create wealth within society through entrepreneurial development and job creation, preferably membership-jobs in co-operatives.
MCC is based on a commitment to solidarity and uses democratic methods for its organisation and management
MCC encourages the participation and integration of people in management, profits and ownership of their companies, to develop a joint, harmonising project aimed at social, business and personal development.
The 10 Founding principles of co-operation:
1.Open Admission.
2.Democratic Organization.
3.Sovereignty of Labor.
4.Instrumental and Subordinate Nature of Capital.
5.Participatory Management.
6.Wage Solidarity.
7.Interco-operation.
8.Social Transformation.
9.Universality.
10.Education
The price of buying into the co-operative system is fixed at 14,000€, which is withheld from salary over a period of time. Being a member of one of the group’s co-ops entitles all members to an equal share in 20% of the corporation’s surplus. Other benefits include the automatic admission to the in-house welfare system (additional health-care and retirement benefits, preferential loan rates…), and relative job security. The level of life-long training and education is also high, following the 10% national requirement. Access to the technical university, management and language training centres is also guaranteed.
The first positive fact is that in spite of being a multi-national corporation, there have been no delocalisations in the various co-operatives in Spain and the Basque country (Industry, supermarkets, research centres, bank branches and provision of services, 90% of the staff are members of co-ops). The remaining staff (often less than 5%) also have some measure of flexicurity. In 2007, 10 co-ops made a loss. In 2008 this is expected to double, so this will be a key issue in the near future. Various for-profit companies are in the process of becoming co-ops.
What are the strengths and also the weaknesses of the model?
I tried to examine the way in which these principles were implemented in terms of the solidarity economy, which aims to create a more collective form of wealth and well-being, and to see how or whether a multinational corporation could serve the interests of local communities and people.
When faced with the tricky question on the sourcing of products, particularly in the EROSKI supermarkets, knowing how intensive agriculture in the south of Spain is often practiced in conditions that are the modern-day equivalent of slavery, I learned that the chain has had SA 8000 certification for the last two years. This technically means that human rights are thoroughly implemented, decent work respected (including by suppliers), and no child labour involved at any level. Not all products have been covered, but the process is on-going. The Fagor co-op, although not certified also works to SA 8000 standards.
Being a member of a co-operative also involves sharing the risks and accepting a cut in wages in periods of recession…And with the global recession, there will certainly be fewer jobs, be it in Spain or elsewhere. The social impacts are bound to be felt as much in co-operatives as elsewhere.
The many production plants world-wide are not however co-ops. Cultural differences in accepting the universal participative management style and co-operative principles would appear more than anything to be the reason. On the plus side however, they combine the Just-In-Time delivery of spare parts to clients with a minimal carbon footprint. Many are hardly beyond the start-up phase, and not yet profitable, but there is the same transparency of information, an attempt at the same management style and 30% worker-ownership (in the form of shares in the companies) as well as a dedicated sum of 5% profits being reinvested in sustainable local development projects. In many cultures where the corporation is present, there is no history of saving money, which also makes simple profit-sharing more difficult. The implementation of welfare or pension schemes have a greater social impact. It is also worth mentioning that the rate of pay is always at least 10% over the national minimum. Nevertheless the cultural limits of the model remain, even if the philosophy remains intact.
All of this means that there is an exceptionally high level of CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility). There is a stated will to ensure that Human Rights be fully respected at all times, as well as regulatory compliance, dignity and respect and transparency. The governance model is of a high standard, based on the principle of inter-co-operation and worker control.
An unanswered question: the non-existence of trade unions
Although the co-operative principle of one man, one vote means that there is clear democratic representation, the role of a union reaches far beyond the simple tenet of representation. Particularly when times are tough. Trade Unions also provide the means for workers to remain connected to those outside their own enterprise and sector.
At the end of the day, in a transnational corporation whose products are based on consumer society’s race to produce ever more, the question of the real intrinsic limits of the system is a fundamental issue. Can the co-operative model prevail, and transform society into a more reasoned approach to human beings use of all things? Or will the fact that the production of goods so intimately linked to the capitalist and neo-liberal model be the downfall of what is certainly a uniquely interesting attempt to provide a wider share of the cake at grass-roots level? As Mikel Lezamiz said “We are not angels”…
Author: Judith Hitchman
Original article in English and French
www.mcc.es
Bamako Declaration
Final statement for a fair tourism as a development vehicle of territories
The 3rd International Forum on Solidarity Tourism (Fair Tourism) held in Bamako, Mali from October 20th - 22nd, 2008 was preceded by 3 days of groundwork meetings. The Forum concluded with a declaration whose main points are listed below.
Workshops as round tables showed the significance of favouring, with a development purpose, a territorial approach within which tourism can have a decisive role.
The main issue of such a development is, on the one hand, to contribute to enhance populations’ quality of life who live on these territories and, on the other hand, to protect the natural resources of those territories.
Beyond the various expressions used to name « fair tourism », this one really must integrate the sustainable development objective.
Actors and partners for a fair tourism are invited to refer to the framework and values of what is called today “the social and fair economy”, considering particularities of world regions or countries.
Some operational main lines seem to have priority in order to reach the sustainable development objective through fair tourism:
• Getting public authorities to increase policy support towards fair tourism
• Creating and clarifying appropriate legislative and regulation frameworks to fair tourism
• Favouring local and regional government involvement
• Including fair tourism in an approach that encourages linkages with the whole activities of the territory
• Developing and strengthening means of support (training, financing, accompanying measures, etc.)
• Heightening the setting up and the networking of actors and territories favouring
• existing facilities in order to avoid activities breaking up
• Ensuring a quality-based fair tourism offer that is adapted to customers’ expectations
• Defining better conditions to enter the market.
We must now, all together, go from theory to action: this is our ambition at the end of this 3rd forum, as we are, from now on, aware of the deep duty to reach the objectives for which we are gathered.
Authors: Martine Théveniaut and Alain Laurent, participants at FITS and the workshop of Teriya Bugue.
See the report of this workshop on the site (under construction): www.pactes-locaux.org (French only)
See Base de fiches. Sphère : pactes ; Identifiant : INV ; mot de passe : pactes
International Conference of La Via Campesina, Maputo, Mozambique
The challenges of an international movement of peasants
The fifth International conference of La Via Campesina took place in Maputo, Mozambique from October 19th to 22nd, 2008. It was preceded by the International Youth Conference and the Women’s Assembly.
In the context of the current four-fold global crises – food, finance, energy and climate – these dimensions take on a significant new meaning for this movement which is already 15 years old. The logic of sustainable development that includes the possibility to reassert peoples’ rights to grow healthy, affordable local food is finding an echo like never before. A significant effort is still required to fight Free Trade Agreements (FTAs) and Economic Partnership Agreements (EPAs), which facilitate dumping of the overproduction of industrial agriculture, as well as advocating for a relocalised small scale model based on local empowerment, agrarian reform.
These issues were discussed in plenary and continental sessions by the 500 delegates from every continent present in Maputo. The conference was remarkably well organised and efficient, with a team of 50 interpreters co-ordinated by the collective Lyre.
« The Via Campesina is the international movement of peasants, small- and medium-sized producers, landless, rural women, indigenous people, rural youth and agricultural workers. It is a global, autonomous, pluralist and multicultural movement, independent of any political, economic, or other type of affiliation.
The movement is already some 15 years old. The Fourth International Conference took place in Maputo (Mozambique) from 19th – 22nd October. It was preceded by both the international Youth Conference and the Women’s Assembly.
The core objective of La Via Campesina is to develop solidarity and unity among small farmer organizations in order to promote gender parity and social justice in fair economic relations; the preservation of land, water, seeds and other natural resources; food sovereignty, as well as sustainable agricultural production based on small and medium-sized producers.
La Via Campesina promotes a model of peasant or family-farm agriculture based on sustainable production with local resources and in harmony with local culture and traditions. Peasants and farmers rely on a long experience with their locally available resources. This means producing the optimal quantity and quality of food with few external inputs. Production is mainly for family consumption and domestic markets.
Food sovereignty is the RIGHT of peoples, countries, and state unions to define their agricultural and food policy without the “dumping” of agricultural commodities into foreign countries. Food sovereignty organizes food production and consumption according to the needs of local communities, giving priority to production for local consumption. Food sovereignty includes the right to protect and regulate the national agricultural and livestock production and to shield the domestic market from the dumping of agricultural surpluses and low-price imports from other countries. Landless people, peasants, and small farmers must get access to land, water, and seed as well as productive resources and adequate public services. Food sovereignty and sustainability are a higher priority than trade policies.
The current industrialized agribusiness model has been deliberately planned for the complete vertical integration and to dominate all agriculture activities. This model exploits workers and concentrates economic and political power. La Via Campesina advocates a decentralized model where production, processing, distribution and consumption are controlled by the people the communities themselves and not by transnational corporations. »
Two of the decisions :
• The decision to create strategic alliances with other organisations to jointly take advantage of the international crises and move forward towards a more sustainable and equitable system
• The introduction of the campaign to end all violence against women (physical, mental and institutional). The latter campaign is in conjunction with the World March of Women, whose General Assembly took place at the same time in Galicia in Spain.
The final declaration can be found at : http://www.viacampesina.org/main_en/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=623&Itemid=68
Judith Hitchman, interpreter and member of the Lyre collective
Original article in English and French
Our Newsletters are available on the WEB:
http://local-development.blogspot.com/
www.apreis.org/
Special thanks to:
Évéline Poirier from Canada for the English translation
Brunilda Rafael from France for the Spanish translation
Michel Colin from Brazil for the Portuguese translation
To contact us (for information, feedback, to subscribe or unsubscribe):
Yvon Poirier ypoirier@videotron.ca
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
