Is A Non-Exploitive Economy Based on Worker-Own Cooperatives Possible?

Two parts of a three-part article on worker cooperatives have been posted to DailyKos by Geminijen:

Part one, Is A Non-Exploitive Economy Based on Worker-Own Cooperatives Possible?

“Anarcho-syndicalists put forward the concept of democratically run cooperatives and worker-owned and managed enterprises as a transformative economic form that could replace the rapacious capitalist system which has so brutalized and exploited workers.  Based on the ideas of economic democracy and voluntary cooperation without class conflict or labor exploitation, anarchists focused on organizing from the ground up, establishing locally managed cooperatives, linked through confederations of unions, cooperatives and communities.”

Part two: The Development of a Cooperative Economy in Practice

“This post (part II of the article) will compare: 1) The state sponsored model in Venezuela where funding and regulations that define cooperatives originate in the political process and 2) the Evergreen Initiative private sector model in Cleveland, Ohio which uses a network of existing industries and community nonprofits to drive cooperative development.  Because of its importance as a model to the overall development of cooperative networks, we will also refer back to the Mondragon Model in Spain which was discussed generally in Part 1 and in detail in an excellent diary by T Pau..  This piece analyzes how each model deals with the major problems that are barriers to the development of a cooperative economy within a capitalist economy. The point is not to judge, at this juncture, the superiority of one model over the other, but to see how different models are affected by and operate in practice given the economic and ideological environment in which they have developed.”

Part three (coming soon): The historic and current relationship between trade unions and cooperatives