Our Offerings
How we deliver our work
We believe that in order to build a solidarity economy, we need to first understand the depth to which colonialism has influenced our modern economic system through the extraction of power and resources from marginalised communities and the accumulation of wealth and power in whiteness, middle-classness and cis-straightness).
Our mission is to identify ways in which individuals and institutions can divest from whiteness, and create the infrastructure that organises those with wealth to redistribute towards marginalised communities who are investing in the solidarity economy. We have taken a lot of inspiration from organisations such as Cooperation Jackson, Chordata Capital, White Awake, Movement Generation and New Economy Coalition who are based in the US. We know that so much of this work needs to be rooted in an experience of European colonisation. We have a responsibility to drive the decolonising agenda from the heart of the world’s colonial powers – bringing our own narratives and political analysis to the resources and frameworks we build.
We do this through the following themes:
Divest from whiteness (education)
The honest truth is we are just a pair of geeks with a penchant for colonial history. Having done this work for a while now, we continue to be amazed by the relationship between colonial expansion and the modern economy. And so, working in partnership with others we seek to gain insight into the colonial roots of the economic and financial system. These insights are transformed into animations, podcasts and creative workshop content in order to bring a picture to the levels of wealth extraction and support our design for repair strategies in the Just Transition. Our work in this area includes:
- Report: Tax as a tool for Racial Justice
- Workshop: Decolonising Economics for White Allies
- Workshop: Decolonising Economics X Climate Justice
- Training for trainers: Building capacity to develop and deliver further workshops
Moving money (investing)
Unsurprisingly, the direction wealth flows in our current financial system is always towards those with social power. We’ve been dreaming about a new kind of finance system that democratices wealth and resources, first and foremost as an act of care and repair. We consult with philanthropic organisations and wealth advisors on the colonial history of capital, and how it connects to today’s wealth inequality. Our mission is to organise and educate within philanthropy and alongside allies who are working to redistribute wealth towards marginalised communities in ways that ensure we are building an economic democracy.
- Workshop: Decolonising Wealth//Reimagining Wealth
- Workshop: Investing in the solidarity economy
- Strategic consulting: Working alongside philanthropic organisations to transform capital towards repair and care
- Redistribution: Organising people with inherited wealth to move their money out of the stock market towards community organisations
Nourishing our communities (organising)
Deepen our relationship primarily in marginalised communities of colour who are looking to working to build solidarity economy initiatives, the foundations of an economy for care and liberation. We also value the long-standing resistance that exists in our ancestors’ communities with the UK and in our respective homelands.
- Event: Decolonising Futures summer series
- Programme: Nourishing Economics programme (emerging)
- Event: Economics from the Margins
- Transforming BPOC grassroots collectives into democratically owned entities
Emerging dream projects
Creating a Neighbourhood Equity Fellowship
We are dreaming of a time that we will have the resources and relationships to launch a Racial Justice and Neighborhood Equity Fellowship in the coming three years. We hope to invest in fellows that work at the intersection of economic justice organising, solidarity and cooperative economics, with a focus on racial justice. This programme was inspired by the New Economy Project NYC. New Economy Project’s mission is to build an economy that works for all, based on cooperation, equity, social and racial justice, and ecological sustainability. We dig that.
Developing a Reparations Map of the UK
We are interested in developing a reparations map, mapping solidarity economics initiatives in the UK in need of financial and infrastructure support. The map would allow people with wealth to directly transfer their assets and resources to the initiatives featured on the map without extracting time, labour and energy from those initiatives. This dream project is inspired by Soul Fire Farm’s reparation map.
Curating a Solidarity Anthology Zine on BPOC economic initiatives
We recognise that economic thought and practice has rested in an overly academic frame that excludes other forms of knowledge and practice.We’re dreaming up a collection of writing, artwork, recipes, rituals and dreaming from the BPOC solidarity economics movement in the UK. Creativity is central to our work, it helps us expand our capacity to imagine a world out of the current system. Imagine a zine featuring a full moon ritual for building trust in your cooperative? Cool right! This dream project is inspired by the BPOC and working class zine movement. Check out the amazing Hajar Press and Lumpen Journal.