REFLEXIVE STATEMENTI am a political economist. I specialize in "democratic community economics." I study people-centered local economic development that is community-based and controlled, collaborative, democratically (or at least broadly) owned and governed through a variety of structures. These structures include worker, producer and consumer owned cooperatives; community land trusts; democratic ESOPs (Employee Stock Ownership Programs) and other forms of worker ownership and self-management. Also included are collective not-for-profit organizations; municipally owned enterprises; community development financial institutions and credit unions; community-controlled community development corporations, and community-controlled development planning. My analysis includes the theoretical and applied study of how and why such alternative structures are economically viable and sustainable, the public policies that are supportive of such development, and ways to document and measure their traditional and non-traditional economic, social and political outcomes and impacts.Much of my research on alternative democratic community-based economic development focuses on how to bring economic empowerment and prosperity to underdeveloped, marginalized and underserved communities, particularly communities of color suffering from institutional racism and economic inequality. I also focus on how to measure the effectiveness of such strategies, particularly as they address structural inequality. I am beginning to formulate a concept I term "subaltern cooperative economic development" to describe the process and strategy through which members of subaltern populations (communities economically marginalized and culturally subordinate to a dominant class or material group) use strong group identity and concern for community to develop productive, collaborative, cooperative economic enterprises.I have begun a project to study, theorize and write about African American participation in and design of alternative democratic economic strategies, and am working on a book tentatively entitled "African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice." I am in the process of discovering, documenting, and analyzing African American cooperative economic, political and social thought from scholars and activists about the strengths and weaknesses of cooperative ownership for economic and social advancement. My focus is on how African American scholars and activists over the past 300 years view cooperative economics, and to analyze cooperative enterprise development as a strategy for African Americans -particularly as a mechanism to control their own income and wealth generation through economic forms that reflect their social and economic values and delivery benefits broadly. I begin with the work of W.E.B. Du Bois who argued that African Americans should be at the forefront of the innovation and practice of new industrial organizations that would be democratic and empowering. In 1907 he documented the myriad cooperative economic efforts of Black...
Credit Unions, with a hundred year history, and Community Development Credit Unions (CDCUs), with a 30–40 year history of serving the under-served, have only recently begun to be recognized by some of the media and the progressive community as “safe havens” and fair lenders. There is little independent, academic research, however, that investigates and evaluates the ways that credit unions are community-rooted and responsive to local needs, and/or their achievements in this area. This paper reports on preliminary qualitative research this author has conducted to help us understand how community development credit unions in Black communities in the U.S. provide affordable financial services, and especially help their clients/members to preserve assets. Major findings include: all CDCUs note that they charge lower rates for their products, and provide higher interest or dividends when possible; both which enable members/customers to save money and build assets. CDCUs work closely with their members to personalize services, to help them avoid loans they cannot afford, and to educate them enough to make sound financial decisions and preserve their assets. Many give some direct options to their members to avoid “payday loans” with check cashing and other predatory lenders. In addition, most CDCUs are deeply involved in their communities, and the bigger ones actually provide donations, encourage their employees to volunteer in the community and are generous employees (creating jobs with benefits and job ladder opportunities). Some are able to help finance affordable housing and contribute to other community economic development projects.
scite is a Brooklyn-based organization that helps researchers better discover and understand research articles through Smart Citations–citations that display the context of the citation and describe whether the article provides supporting or contrasting evidence. scite is used by students and researchers from around the world and is funded in part by the National Science Foundation and the National Institute on Drug Abuse of the National Institutes of Health.