Cooperative Ownership in the Struggle for African American Economic Empowerment

Abstract

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...

Fostering Capacity-building Among Groups of Disadvantaged Farmers, Southeastern North Carolina (USA)

“…Cooperative development has been recommended increasingly as an economic development strategy for disadvantaged communities (Nembhard, 2004).…”

“…Development of a cooperative does not guarantee long-term success, and many cooperatives are organizationally fragile and strategically vulnerable businesses (Hilchey, Gillespie, & Henehan, 2006). Few scholars have explored how cooperative ownership actually creates and builds wealth (Nembhard, 2002(Nembhard, , 2004.…”

“…The second framing is particularly relevant to African Americans, reflecting a history where formation of cooperatives was an adaptive response to systematic discrimination and persistent disadvantage (Nembhard, 2004). The potential nonmonetary value of farmer groups can be tied to social capital theory; social interactions link the individual to the wider community and affect access to opportunities and resources (Harper & Marcus, 2003).…”

“…A cooperative strategy should be a good fit for rural African Americans, given their long and strong history of cooperative ownership (Nembhard, 2004). However, few cooperative groups have been formed in North Carolina, and the success rate among those few examples has been low.…”

212 MART; Is it Able o Create Economical Impacts, Engage Society and Develop Entrepreneurship Culture Within Cociety?

“…But 212 Mart should grow faster with the concept of unity, because the market and its investors are available. With the number of Muslims representing over 85 % of the total population, this 212 Mart should be much more developed than it is todayIt also analyzes the concept and strategy of "racial economic cooperation" combining cooperative industries and services in a "group economy [12].…”