'Cooperatives Aren't Charity'
Saturday 27 August 2011
by: Kanya D'Almeida, Inter Press Service | Interview
Washington - As industrial production penetrates all corners of the planet and transnational capital gains have unfettered access to virtually every country and community, the United Nations has declared 2012 to be the ?International Year of Cooperatives (IYC)'.
Slated to be launched on Oct. 31 at U.N. headquarters in New York, the IYC should be a "reminder to the international community that it is possible to pursue both economic viability and social responsibility," said U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.
While the high-level meeting will no doubt generate enormous awareness on the necessity of sustainable and alternative economies like cooperatives, many individuals and organisations have been working quietly for years to bring worker-owned enterprises to fruition.
IPS Washington correspondent Kanya D'Almeida spoke with Brian Van Slyke, founder of the Toolbox for Education and Social Action (TESA), a worker-owned cooperative created to democratise education and the economy, while furthering the cooperative movement.
Excerpts from the interview follow:
Go to original story at Truthout for the interview
Add new comment