Cooperatives and Democratic Workplace Practices: Strategies for Building Community Power & Liberation

 
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Worker-owned cooperative models and democratic workplace practices are strategies that have the potential to build community power within justice-oriented organizations seeking to enact these outcomes, in addition to with their constituencies. Community power[1] can be defined as the ability of community(ies) most impacted by structural inequity to develop, sustain, and grow an organized base of people who act together through democratic structures to set agendas, shift public discourse, influence who makes decisions, and cultivate ongoing relationships of mutual accountability with decision makers that change systems and advance health equity.

This brief, developed in partnership with the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC), Sustainable Economies Law Center (SELC), and participating organizations, describes worker-owned cooperatives, democratic workplace practices, and other forms of collective governance for grassroots organizations to more effectively transform the systems, structures, policies, and environments that underlie inequity and injustice.

Cooperatives & Democratic Workplace Practices: Strategies for Building Community Power & Liberation is a resource from the Centering Community in Public Health - Learning Circle Brief Series.

1 Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. (2021, September 15). Building community power to advance Health Equity. Lead Local. Retrieved September 16, 2021, from https://www.rwjf.org/en/library/collections/building-community-power-to-advance-health-equity.html.

+ Social Media Kit

Our journeys toward liberation must also be liberating! Co-ops & democratic workplaces reinforce that value by providing workers healthy & equitable work cultures. Read @Praxis_Project's newest brief to learn more https://bit.ly/3nVrFmE

Cooperation is a powerful practice for shifting resources & has the potential to transform white dominant culture in the workplace. Learn how community organizers are shifting the norms to center healthy & equitable workplace cultures in @Praxis_Project's newest brief https://bit.ly/3nVrFmE

We must intentionally design a workplace for the power dynamics they want - and the adoption of democratic workplace principles and the move toward worker ownership are tools to embody that practice. Read @Praxis_Project's newest brief https://bit.ly/3nVrFmE

How can public health, allied health professions & philanthropy support organizations utilizing democratic workplace practices? Read @Praxis_Project's brief on Cooperations and Democratic Workplaces https://bit.ly/3nVrFmE

+ SUGGESTED CITATION

The Praxis Project (2021, November). Cooperatives & Democratic Workplace Practices: Strategies for Building Community Power & Liberation. Retrieved from http://thepraxisproject.org/resource/2021/2021/cooperatives-democratic-workplace-practices

Events featuring this resource

Featured
#InPraxisChat Tweetchat 10/27: Cooperatives & Democratic Workplaces
Oct 27
#InPraxisChat Tweetchat 10/27: Cooperatives & Democratic Workplaces

In honor of National Co-op Month, Praxis will be holding a tweetchat on Cooperatives and Democratic Workplaces, Wednesday, October 27th, 10-11am PT/1-2pm ET, co-hosted with the US Federation of Worker Cooperatives and Sustainable Law Economies Center.

briefs in this series

Featured
Equity in Action?: Assessing the Role of Community in Declarations of Racism as a Public Health Crisis
Equity in Action?: Assessing the Role of Community in Declarations of Racism as a Public Health Crisis

The purpose of this brief is to present the findings from a series of surveys, Learning Circles, and media analyses designed by The Praxis Project and Berkeley Media Studies Group, a program of the Public Health Institute, to examine the extent to which community basebuilding organizations played a role in declarations of racism as a public health crisis and how the declarations were covered in the media.

From Food Justice to Liberation: Building Community Power through Community Gardens & Urban Farms
From Food Justice to Liberation: Building Community Power through Community Gardens & Urban Farms

From Food Justice to Liberation: Building Community Power through Community Gardens & Urban Farms is a resource from the Centering Community in Public Health - Learning Circle Brief Series.

The purpose of this brief is to understand how urban farms and community gardens stewarded by Black, Indigenous and people of color (BIPOC) power-building and base-building organizations help raise community consciousness about healthy food systems, create opportunities for resident leadership and skill development, promote local economic development, and provide healthy alternatives to the typical commodified foods that are available in marginalized communities.

The Role of Culture in Basebuilding Community Organizing for Health, Justice, & Racial Equity
The Role of Culture in Basebuilding Community Organizing for Health, Justice, & Racial Equity

The Role of Culture in Basebuilding Community Organizing for Health, Justice, & Racial Equity is a resource from the Centering Community in Public Health - Learning Circle Brief Series.

The purpose of this brief is to inform institutions and institutional allies of the critical role culture plays in community-led movements, and how to positively and respectfully honor and uplift culture in advancing health justice.

 
Front line LearningsGuest UserLC Brief Series