Editor’s note: in this two-part interview, GEO member Jessica Gordon-Nembhard presents a brief summation of her research on solidarity economics and cooperatives. Jessica is best known for her history of African-American co-ops, [Collective Courage], which can be purchased directly from the publisher [here](use code JGN14 for a 20% discount). How do we transform societal structures and pave the way to economic democracy? Professor Jessica Gordon-Nembhard explores the potential of cooperatives and solidarity economics as pathways towards economic democracy and justice. Drawing on historical examples from the civil rights movement and the Knights of Labor in the 1880s, Gordon-Nembhard demonstrates how cooperative economics can counteract the exploitation inherent in capitalist systems. She underlines the importance of communal ownership and shared decision-making as mechanisms for wealth redistribution, arguing that such models can liberate communities from economic exploitation. In this alternative approach, power inequities are challenged, and economics becomes a system where everyone can participate and benefit, realizing possibilities through pooled resources and collective action. In part 2 of our conversation with Professor Jessica Gordon-Nembhard she goes deeper into the power of cooperatives and their positive impacts on society and democracy.
