Economics
Entrepreneurship and Long-Term Planning in an Income-Sharing Community: A Report from the Frontlines
Posted on October 15, 2019 byThe pace of running a competitive multi-million-dollar business like East Wind Nut Butters can clash with the often slow and seemingly disinterested pace of the community at large.
Your Monthly Freebie: Think Outside the Boss
Posted on June 8, 2019 byThis month’s Free Resource comes from Sustainable Economies Law Center, an organization whose mission is to “cultivates a new legal landscape that supports community resilience and grassroots economic empowerment.” Think… Read More
Your Monthly Freebie: Localization of Happiness
Posted on March 11, 2019 byLocalization: Essential Steps to an Economics of Happiness By Helena Norberg-Hodge Edited by Steven Gorelick and Kristen Steele This month’s free resource comes from our friends at Local Futures, who work to… Read More
Narcissism, Dependence, and Culture Change
Posted on January 14, 2019 byTwo aspects of the cultural transition we are working toward are little discussed but directly impact our daily relationships: narcissism and dependence dynamics. By unpacking them, we can turn the tide.
Join FIC for Giveaways on #GiveItAwayTuesday
Posted on November 19, 2018 byConnect With FIC for a Day of Giving Back! We are inspired to give back and show our love of community on this global day of giving – November… Read More
Perennial Lessons from Historical Communities
Posted on October 30, 2018 by1 Comment
A modern-day communitarian “networks” with Fourierist communities of the 1840s by examining their lives together and noticing enduring themes, challenges, and solutions.
The Cohousing Research Network: A Community Approach to Communities Research
Posted on October 16, 2018 byThe collaborative research process in this “virtual intentional community” comes with challenges, but the personal and collective outcomes of collaboration prove worth the trouble.
Liberation, Networks, and Community
Posted on September 21, 2018 by3 Comments
Movements and networks of liberation show us that community can be a tool either of oppression or of powerful organizing for liberation. It’s time for our movement to get solidly on the right side of history.
On the Potential for an IC Business Network
Posted on September 14, 2018 by2 Comments
Research and data strongly suggest that a network of intentional community businesses could fill a real need for both customers and business owners.
It’s Not Just the Curtain: Crossing the Class Divide at the Bloomington Catholic Worker
Posted on March 28, 2018 by1 Comment
Distinctions and boundaries between community members and their homeless guests can be problematic sometimes, but they are also what allow the sharing and caring to continue.
Combating Racism, One Community at a Time
Posted on March 26, 2018 by1 Comment
Catholic Worker communities throughout the Midwest examine themselves, make changes, and reach out in an effort to overcome the insidious influences of white supremacy.
Class, Race, and Privilege in Intentional Community
Posted on March 24, 2018 byA co-owner of Heart-Culture Farm Community explores ways to use her privilege to help create a society where people are truly equal.
I’m Not a Racist, But Racism Is In Me—and in My Community
Posted on March 22, 2018 byPredominantly white communities are going to stay that way until they acknowledge and address racism. Here is some guidance for doing that.
Reflections on Class from a Newbie at Rocky Hill Cohousing
Posted on March 20, 2018 by2 Comments
A cohousing project’s budget can help address class and classism—but the community also needs to articulate and explore its culture’s underlying or hidden rules.
Barriers to Diversity in Community
Posted on March 14, 2018 by1 Comment
An organizer of Charlotte Cohousing in North Carolina offers several ways intentional communities unintentionally exclude her fellow people of color.
Moving Beyond Diversity Towards Collective Liberation: Weaving the Communities Movement into Intersectional Justice Struggles
Posted on March 8, 2018 byThe co-organizer of the People of Color Sustainable Housing Network shares strategies for deepening your community’s work on issues of race, class, and privilege.
Back to the City!
Posted on November 26, 2017 byAs Compersia and Point A aim to demonstrate, a city can be the perfect place to start an egalitarian, income-sharing community.
Living Out a Gift Economy in Community with Others
Posted on August 1, 2017 by2 Comments
Putting love into practice can be done even when you have nothing materially.
Community Is the Best Medicine: A guide to cooperative living on a disability income
Posted on July 21, 2017 byThose living with disabilities have many options for finding community; here are suggestions on where and how to look.
Servant Leadership in Cooperative Business: Stirring It Up at East Wind Nut Butters
Posted on July 11, 2017 byAn egalitarian community’s General Manager reflects on embodying collective values and ecological sanity in a three-million-dollar-a-year business.
Mobile Home Parks: A Fast and Inexpensive Path to Cohousing
Posted on June 30, 2017 by2 Comments
Mobile home and RV parks present an unequaled opportunity to accelerate the transition to more widespread community living.
Community as Economic Engine
Posted on June 21, 2017 by1 Comment
A long-time communard suggests ways non-income-sharing communities can better support their members’ economic well-being.
Participatory Budgeting in an Income-Sharing Community
Posted on June 11, 2017 by1 Comment
How does one share income and expenses among a hundred people? Twin Oaks discovers how to supplant apathy with widespread engagement.
The Gift Economy of Standing Rock
Posted on June 1, 2017 by1 Comment
The principles of indigenous culture informed the Water Protectors’ camps: generosity, compassion, and collective survival took precedence.
Towards a Joyful Economics
Posted on May 28, 2017 byFrom Gift Circles in Brooklyn to the sharing economy at an ecovillage-based collective house, the author explores practical applications of Sacred Economics.
Economics in Cooperative Culture, #175 Contents
Posted on May 26, 2017 byEconomics in cooperative culture—the focus of our Summer issue—is expressed in myriad forms
From cohousing developments to gift-economy activist camps, from spiritual communities to mobile home parks, from income-sharing communities to intentional neighborhoods, people across a wide range of economic circumstances and approaches are discovering the benefits of cooperative economics. Their stories suggest new ways of “stewarding our home” and transitioning into a more inclusive and sustainable future.
An Evolving Movement
Posted on December 21, 2015 by1 Comment
The FIC’s new Executive Director reflects on his and the organization’s converging paths.
Why I’m a Locavore
Posted on June 1, 2015 by1 Comment
By eating food grown locally by farmers we know, we can create a strong and resilient local food system and a healthier community.
Kindista: Technology for Living More Freely
Posted on January 9, 2015 byBorn of collaboration, an innovative technology helps build community by encouraging trust, appreciation, and giving from the heart.
The Dirty Business of Growing a Cohousing Community Farm
Posted on August 8, 2014 byA farm is not a clod of dirt; it is more like mud that slips through your hands, gets on your boots, and is tracked all through the community.
