Solidarity Economies: A Post-Capitalist Vision | CC Dispatch #13

Welcome to lucky Dispatch 13! This week we’ll be discussing a promising alternative vision to our current capitalist system, what we can learn from the Zapatistas of Mexico, and ways you can get involved in building this future right now. Let’s dig in! (We’re especially pumped to get into this one!)

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The Zapatista Uprising

Revealing History

In a story that’s all too common for indigenous communities living under colonialism, Chiapas, a state in southern Mexcio, is one of the most resource-rich states but has one of the poorest populations in the country due to exploitation from the government. The Zapatistas, a movement made up of primarily indigenous Mayan peoples, formed the Zapatista Army for National Liberation (EZLN) to protest the enactment of the 1994 North American Free Trade Agreement, decades of government repression, and resource exploitation.

On January 1, 1994, after a decade of underground organizing, the EZLN launched an uprising in Chiapas demanding recognition and autonomy over their ancestral land. The 12-day uprising began with the EZLN storming and occupying the state capital and four other cities, releasing prisoners and destroying government land ownership records. The Mexican army and police violently pushed the Zapatistas back, but the EZLN was able to inspire global support for their uprising which pressured the Mexican government to negotiate a ceasefire with them. The political ramifications of the Zapatista Uprising can be felt today, with many considering the Zapatistas as a model of indigenous resistance worldwide.

Some key takeaways:

• Zapatistas garnered international solidarity by using digital media to reach out to thousands of activist groups before and during the uprising, resulting in mass protests all over Mexico and the world in support of the Zapatistas.
• Zapatista’s established their own autonomous zones in Chiapas called the Rebel Zapatista Autonomous Municipalities, where they self-governed independently with their own schools, hospitals, food supply, etc.
• Women played a key role in the Zapatista movement as both civil supporters and militants, helping to dismantle patriarchal structures of Mexican society.
• The Zapatista Uprising is credited for a renewed surge in leftist politics following the violence of the Mexican Dirty War and the increased democratization of Mexico.

The People's Dictionary: Solidarity Economy

The solidarity economy is an economic system that prioritizes our well being just as much as financial profits, and is designed to be an alternative to capitalism (and other authoritarian, state-dominated economic systems). In Solidarity Economies, ordinary people play an active role in shaping all of the dimensions of human life – economic, social, cultural, political, and environmental – and aims to transform the social and economic system that includes public (state-controlled services), private (for-profit businesses), and third sectors (community & self-help economy) to function harmoniously together, rather than in silo, to overcome inequality between all classes of society.

Definition from 2015 Global Vision paper by RIPESS

There are growing calls around the world to opt-out of the current capitalist system, from the US and Cuba, to Greece and Serbia and many more in between. We love to see resistance, but it’s also only half of the equation. It’s not enough to just resist, we must build too. But what does ‘building’ look like in reality? After all, theory and ideas are nice but fascism is here now. The good news is that there are lots of people around the world already working to build a post-capitalist vision of society. We want to focus on one that we think has a lot of potential: solidarity economies.

As we discussed above, a solidarity economy is an alternative economic system than our current capitalist systems; one that places just as much value on social development as economic development. The term gained popularity in the 1980s throughout Latin America and Europe as a way to better describe a network of practices that were already existing within society. When the State abandons their responsibility to their citizens, especially marginalized communities, the people have always found ways to take care of and protect each other through the free exchange of time, labor, and resources - essentially building mini autonomous economies based on cooperation, mutualism, reciprocity, and altruism instead of profit. These practices exist today in all parts of our society. The primary issue is that they are typically separated from each other. As Emily Kawano, Director of the US Solidarity Economy Network, says, the goal is to “connect these siloed practices in order to build an alternative economic system, broadly defined, for people and the planet.”

Since the term gained popularity, a lot has been written about solidarity economies. Much of this dispatch draws from that work, particularly the Intercontinental Network for the Promotion of the Social Solidarity Economy (RIPESS) and the incredible work of Emily Kawano, all of which has deeply indigenous roots.

So, what are the core values of a Solidarity Economy?

• Pluralism - The solidarity economy is not a one size fits all solution and it will look slightly different depending on the needs, culture, and conditions of the communities it supports. We must allow localized definitions of the solidarity economy to exist along with different strategies to build it, as there are many paths to achieve the same goal. In the wise words of the Zapatistas, the goals to create a “world in which many worlds fit.”
• Solidarity - This is a broad term that encompasses many behaviors that a solidarity economy seeks to nurture, like cooperation, mutualism, reciprocity, and altruism, while also recognizing all types of work, even if they are not monetized (eg. child-care, eldercare, or other volunteer work). We must place as much value on these principles as our current society places on generating profit.
• Equity in all dimensions - The idea of a solidarity economy emerged from the real-world practices of communities most harmed by capitalism - the poor, unemployed, landless, marginalized, indigenous, etc. Thus the solidarity economy is “interwoven with social movements focusing on anti-racism, feminism, anti-imperialism, labor, poor people, the environment, and democracy.” Social movements and the solidarity economy are two sides of the same coin. While social movements focus on resisting, the solidarity economy focuses on building.
• Participatory Democracy - The solidarity economy upholds self-management and collective ownership. By making decisions and actions as locally as possible, people create smaller feedback loops, allowing them to more actively participate in the development of their communities and workplaces. In this system, workers own and control their means of production and have an equal say on how profit is used instead of the profit being completely controlled by the ‘owners’ of the business. These exist today as worker-owned cooperatives.
• Sustainability - Drawing on indigenous Andean tradition, the solidarity economy embraces the idea that Mother nature has her own right to exist and flourish. In order for humanity to survive, humans must take care of nature, not view it as a resource to exploit. The rights of Mother Nature have already been enshrined in the Constitutions of Bolivia and Ecuador and over 3 dozen communities across the US.

How do we build a solidarity economy?

The first step is always awareness: we need to start talking about this with others for it to gain popularity. Many people don’t know what options are out there and many cooperative suppliers and producers might not even know about each other. That’s why a group of really smart and caring people from around the world created RIPESS in 1997, to connect national and regional solidarity economy networks that exist on every continent, making it easy for anyone in the world to help build this vision! In North America, there's Chantier de l’économie sociale (Quebec-Only), CCeDnet (Canada), and USSEN (USA).

Then, we’ve gotta make the choice for ourselves to shift our lifestyle and start participating in what’s already being built. From worker co-operatives to community gardens to free stores to ethical purchasing or even more innovative systems like time banks (check out the Kola Nut Collective in Chicago), which allow people to use their time as currency to receive services, there are many ways we can intentionally contribute to shaping the solidarity economy.

Of course, the specifics will look different depending on your needs, resources, access level, and availability. Some people may have the space to grow food or participate in a community garden, while others may be able to find a job with a worker co-op, or at least shop at a cooperative grocery store. Some might be able to move their money out of corporate banks and into a local credit union, while others may engage more in free and barter clubs. We don’t need to do it all or transition in a rush, but we do need to do something.

As we get move involved and invested in these practices, the next step is to start connecting them all to build supply chains that can self-sustain. For example, in Brazil, the “Justa Trama” cooperative works exclusively with other cooperatives to create t-shirts and bags to sell. Cotton is grown by one cooperative that sells it to a different cooperative to create cotton fabric. A third cooperative provides the buttons, and then two more sewing cooperatives assemble it all into final products. Each cooperative in this chain gets business from each other and the profits are shared with the cooperatives in need. One could even imagine expanding this chain by having the business be funded by a community credit union with the products sold at cooperative stores only. The goal is to create new economic chains where everyone can benefit, even if they are not ‘investors.’

It will also be vital to pressure our local governments to support worker cooperatives and other solidarity economy activities. Cities all over US, from Madison, WO to Oakland, CA, have passed laws to support the development of cooperatives, but we need to bring it to many more cities. In this way, the network grows, builds momentum, and eventually shifts the culture and system itself to become independent from capitalist systems.

How does this lead to systemic change?

This might feel a bit idealistic because what works at a local level doesn’t necessarily scale up. The solidarity economy isn’t a single business or set of regulations, fundamentally it’s a different set of core values that are infinitely scaleable. For example, there are already multi-national worker co-operatives worth billions of USD. Yes, a multi-national corporation that actually benefits it’s workers - wild!

The key to making this work is using our lives to build a culture of solidarity where we all help each other stay afloat and safe, and solidarity economies are the backbone of this. By combining all these practices of the solidarity economy with political and social resistance, we can demonstrate just how viable an ethical alternative system is. We must resist and build, oppose and propose.

Artists Confronting Inequalities

Wednesday Holmes is a UK based artist, author & community worker. They create illustrations and animations exploring community care, queer solidarity and the magic of existing in this world! With community work at the center of their creative practice, Wednesday uses their creative skills and personal life as a vehicle for collective change while inviting all of us to consider how we can show up for ourselves and community, both in our lifestyles and in our work.

Follow Wednesday on Instagram

Resources & Tools

Please share these links with anyone that might find them helpful:

• SocioEco Library | The Social Solidarity Economy Resource Library
• Solidarity Economy Principles | Learn about an alternative economy the global collective is building and find a Solidarity Economy near you.
  • US Solidarity Economy Directory & Map
  • RIPESS: Global Network of Solidarity Economies
• The Commons | A Library for Social Change
• How to: Switch to Better Banks & Credit Cards | A comprehensive article by Third Act packed with knowledge and resources about how to move your money to better banks, credit unions, and credit cards.
• How to Set Up a Neighborhood Lending Library | A helpful guide for anyone interested in setting up a community/neighborhood lending library. Originally created for residents in Tulsa, Oklahoma, but can be helpful to anyone!
• Emergency Battery Network Toolkit | A toolkit to help you build strong and effective backup power supplies with and for your community to use when an emergency strikes.

For more resources, View the Full Directory

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About Little Wins

Little Wins is a Los Angeles-based creative studio using the power of visual design & storytelling to raise our collective consciousness, connect communities across cultures and classes, and motivate others to improve our world. We do this because we want to see a more engaged, liberated, and regenerative world where all people have access to the knowledge and tools needed to thrive.