Yes, actually, BECAUSE THEY DO ALL OVER THE WORLD. In fact, worker-owned cooperative businesses are MORE common in the third world than they are in the “developed” world - mostly farming coops like the one I linked first, but business, banking, and all sorts of cooperatives are VERY common even in economically-depressed areas.
I can go on, but just search “[insert country name] coops” and you’ll find some, almost guaranteed.
Most coops start from workers in other sectors, or with other income streams combining their money together and using those funds to start their cooperative, or workers in a company will buy out or convert their company into a worker-owned cooperative. They all share in profit from the cooperative, the revenue is held by an elected treasurer, the management and directorial staff, if any, are voted upon by workers, and workers vote and have an active voice in how the proceeds are spent to better the cooperative. This is INCREDIBLY common the world over, and in some places, these types of businesses have existed before capitalism was spread there.
Here’s one near me! https://www.ourharvest.coop/
And the larger collection of coops that they associate with. https://coopcincy.org/overview
I’ll bet that no matter where you are in the world, there’s a large collection of coops that are functioning and have functioned for quite a while.
Do you think that fancy developed world project will work out without money or even just fuel from a huge company or government?
Yes, actually, BECAUSE THEY DO ALL OVER THE WORLD. In fact, worker-owned cooperative businesses are MORE common in the third world than they are in the “developed” world - mostly farming coops like the one I linked first, but business, banking, and all sorts of cooperatives are VERY common even in economically-depressed areas.
Nigeria: https://www.cfan.coop/
Nicaragua: https://coopcoffees.coop/las-diosas/
Honduras: https://coopcoffees.coop/category/producers/latin-america/honduras/
Ghana: https://ghanacooperativescouncil.com/
Papua New Guinea: https://www.croptocup.com/community/aaak-cooperative/
I can go on, but just search “[insert country name] coops” and you’ll find some, almost guaranteed.
Most coops start from workers in other sectors, or with other income streams combining their money together and using those funds to start their cooperative, or workers in a company will buy out or convert their company into a worker-owned cooperative. They all share in profit from the cooperative, the revenue is held by an elected treasurer, the management and directorial staff, if any, are voted upon by workers, and workers vote and have an active voice in how the proceeds are spent to better the cooperative. This is INCREDIBLY common the world over, and in some places, these types of businesses have existed before capitalism was spread there.
Funny that place is run by volunteers or a rich person or government?