[ICDE Report] Cooperative Roots for Climate Justice

Cite this Report:
Tortorici, Stefano. 2024. “Cooperative Roots for Climate Justice.” Institute for the Cooperative Economy. New York City. https://archive.org/details/CooperativeRootsforClimateJustice.

Stefano Tortorici’s report for the Institute for Digital Cooperative Economy (ICDE) explores the history and potential of cooperatives, both legacy and platform co-ops, to address climate injustice. The report emphasizes the crises of identity and market competition facing cooperatives, proposing a re-engagement with the foundational socialist principles of pioneers like Robert Owen and W.E.B. Du Bois, who saw cooperatives as tools for broader societal and environmental justice. Tortorici argues that cooperatives must redefine their political identities to overcome neoliberal co-optation and contribute meaningfully to climate justice. The report calls for empirical research to address practical challenges like scalability and funding, and a re-politicization of cooperatives to align with radical eco-socialist principles, suggesting that a deeper connection with socialism could revitalize the cooperative movement and its role in tackling climate change.


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Learn about Stefano Tortorici