When I am asked about cooperativism and the transformative economy through the cooperative Talaios and Olatukoop, I say that it has been an opportunity to begin the path to emancipation through work and collective action. And on that road it has been very important to work on the construction of KoopFabrika with many collaborators and cooperatives, but also with the GEZKI and LANKI research centres of the universities. The training, accompaniment and network that we did not have in our origins, is a tool of intercooperation that has allowed us to create for others. What we have been building and improving for eight years with practice and research, with tools, knowledge and methodologies accessible to all. But is it really a path for everyone?
The biggest challenge we have identified is that the road we have embarked upon is for everyone and especially for the people and groups who are in the most precarious situations in our society. But how do we build self-constituted projects if there are no conditions to create life projects of invisible people in society and we have no relationship with entangled subjects necessary for self-formation? Long-term processes need to be developed.
We have learned that cooperativism must be anti-racist and decolonial as a transformative
At KoopFabrika we had the opportunity to support the creation of the Enara cooperative, which offers training and advice to empower women migrated from Vitoria to the entire Basque Country. Led by Tania and Katherine, we have launched the KoopFabrika long-term project from the South, which aims to ensure a transformative social economy and immersion in cooperativism accessible to all, offering training, accompaniment and network.
It has been an intense year that has led us to Andalusia, Madrid and Catalonia to get to know the projects created by the migrated people, to know their needs, difficulties and ways of doing and to make the network, until on 6 and 7 October we organized a conference of cooperative action to transform the lives of the Margin in Hernani.
We have learned that for cooperativism to be transformative it must be anti-racist and decolonial, that from the axes that behave us and from our privileges we can generate solid projects and networks, because we transform and improve the lives of all in the transformation of lives on the edge. We will continue to work together on the network being created.
Good road, KoopFabrika from the South, and now repeal the foreign laws!