Cooperation Jackson is a network of

worker cooperative A worker cooperative is a cooperative owned and Workers' self-management, self-managed by its workers. This control may mean a Company, firm where every worker-owner participates in decision-making in a democratic fashion, or it may refer to one ...

s in

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

, United States. It aims to develop a series of independent but connected democratic institutions to empower workers and residents of Jackson, particularly to address the needs of poor, unemployed, Black and Latino residents. The development of Cooperation Jackson has been heavily inspired by the

Mondragon Corporation The Mondragon Corporation is a corporation and cooperative federation, federation of worker cooperatives based in the Euskal Herria, Basque region of Spain. It was founded in the town of Mondragón in 1956 by Father José María Arizmendiarrie ...

in Spain, which is also a federation of cooperatives, and by historical

cooperative A cooperative (also known as co-operative, coöperative, co-op, or coop) is "an autonomy, autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly owned a ...

movements as described in works by

W. E. B. Du Bois William Edward Burghardt Du Bois ( ; February 23, 1868 – August 27, 1963) was an American sociologist, socialist, historian, and Pan-Africanist civil rights activist. Born in Great Barrington, Massachusetts, Du Bois grew up in a relativel ...

and in the book ''Collective Courage'' by Jessica Gordon Nembhard.

History

Cooperation Jackson, formed in 2014, strives to enact a vision of a radically democratic city of interconnected cooperatives and supporting institutions. Although the city of Jackson was already home to the Mississippi Association of Cooperatives, before Cooperation Jackson, there were not many existing cooperative businesses. Kali Akuno, a Cooperation co-founder and co-director, describes a goal of bringing a strong focus of

cooperative economics Cooperative (or co-operative) economics is a field of economics that incorporates cooperative studies and political economy toward the study and management of cooperatives. History Cooperative economics developed as both a theory and a concret ...

to an urban American context, in contrast to the currently more common rural context of

agricultural Agriculture encompasses crop and livestock production, aquaculture, and forestry for food and non-food products. Agriculture was a key factor in the rise of sedentary human civilization, whereby farming of domesticated species created f ...

and utility co-ops. The organization has attempted to work within and outside of the government to achieve its goals. It has resisted anti-democratic measures by the

Mississippi state legislature The Mississippi Legislature is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The bicameral Legislature is composed of the lower Mississippi House of Representatives, with 122 members, and the upper Mississippi State Senate, with 52 me ...

including

austerity In economic policy, austerity is a set of Political economy, political-economic policies that aim to reduce government budget deficits through Government spending, spending cuts, tax increases, or a combination of both. There are three prim ...

measures, an attempted takeover of Jackson–Medgar Wiley Evers International Airport, and an attempt to pass legislation to give control of the city government to Mississippi's governor. The organizers also struggle with working in an economically depressed city in the poorest state in the United States.

Jackson-Kush Plan

Akuno has described the network as a key part of enacting the Jackson-Kush Plan. The plan, which was developed by the Malcolm X Grassroots Movement, involves building a strong base of community wealth, stability, racial equity, and

economic democracy Economic democracy (sometimes called a democratic economy) is a socioeconomic philosophy that proposes to shift ownership and decision-making power from corporate shareholders and corporate managers (such as a board of directors) to a larger ...

in Jackson. It has three planks, which are the "building of a broad-based

solidarity economy Solidarity economy or social and solidarity economy (SSE) refers to a wide range of economic activities that aim to prioritize social profitability instead of purely financial profits. A key feature that distinguishes solidarity economy entities ...

, the building of people's assemblies, and the building of an independent black political party." Organizers behind Cooperation Jackson believe that a solidarity economy rooted in democratic principles is a core requirement of developing the community's capacity and vision in making meaningful change. The Jackson-Kush Plan describes the role of this economy as a "transitional strategy and praxis to build 21st century socialism and advance the abolition of capitalism and the poverty and oppressive social relations that it fosters". The

direct democracy Direct democracy or pure democracy is a form of democracy in which the Election#Electorate, electorate directly decides on policy initiatives, without legislator, elected representatives as proxies, as opposed to the representative democracy m ...

of people's assemblies and local government electoral strategy are designed to both benefit and benefit from a strong cooperative system.

Projects

Mutual aid

Cooperation Jackson has long focused on facilitating

mutual aid Mutual aid is an organizational model where voluntary, collaborative exchanges of resources and services for common benefit take place amongst community members to overcome social, economic, and political barriers to meeting common needs. This ...

projects. This has included creating and distributing

personal protective equipment Personal protective equipment (PPE) is protective clothing, helmets, goggles, or other garments or equipment designed to protect the wearer's body from injury or infection. The hazards addressed by protective equipment include physical, elect ...

and providing an eviction support hotline in the wake of the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic (also known as the coronavirus pandemic and COVID pandemic), caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), began with an disease outbreak, outbreak of COVID-19 in Wuhan, China, in December ...

. Members have also created community gardens and composting sheds on vacant spaces to aid their goal of providing enough organic food to provide for the calorie needs of 20,000 people in Jackson. In 2021, Cooperation organizers began work with the Grassroots Center in

Vermont Vermont () is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders Massachusetts to the south, New Hampshire to the east, New York (state), New York to the west, and the Provinces and territories of Ca ...

to develop a land trust in that state in cooperation with the local indigenous population and to address food needs with

regenerative agriculture Regenerative agriculture is a conservation and rehabilitation approach to food and farming systems. It focuses on topsoil regeneration, increasing biodiversity, improving the water cycle, enhancing ecosystem services, supporting biosequestration ...

. The project also seeks to serve as a safe haven for potential climate refugees who may be escaping inhospitable conditions in Mississippi.

Cooperative institutions

Several cooperatives exist as part of the Cooperation Jackson network. These include the lawn care business The Green Team, the organic vegetable farm Freedom Farms, and the print shop The Center for Community Production, which also operates a

3D printer 3D printing, or additive manufacturing, is the construction of a three-dimensional object from a CAD model or a digital 3D model. It can be done in a variety of processes in which material is deposited, joined or solidified under computer ...

. These cooperatives try to alleviate causes of poverty and discrimination while operating in an ecologically sustainable manner. A cooperative incubator exists, called the Balagoon Center. Cooperation Jackson also owns about three hectares of land which it operates as a community land trust.

External links

Official website

The Jackson-Kush Plan: The Struggle for Black Self-Determination and Economic Democracy

References

{{Authority control Cooperative federations Cooperative movement Worker cooperatives of the United States Cooperatives based in Mississippi Economic democracy Economy of Jackson, Mississippi Organizations based in Jackson, Mississippi Permaculture organizations Sustainability organizations Labor rights groups Land trusts Business incubators