How One Podcast Provides a Platform for Those Putting the Planet and People Over Profit
People often say it’s easier to imagine the end of the world than the end of capitalism, but many are already creating alternatives. These include movements like democratic socialism, just transition, local peace economy, and the solidarity economy.
Marina Lopez from Art.coop explained in a 2023 interview that the solidarity economy is not new or difficult to understand. By naming and formalizing it, people have a common language to discuss these community-focused economic activities, which prioritize people and the planet over profit.
The solidarity economy involves sustainable and equitable community control of labor, food, housing, technology, and culture. This can be through cooperatives, time banks, and mutual aid networks, but these must be governed by core values like cooperation, democracy, equity, sustainability, and pluralism.
Art.coop began in 2021 with the “Solidarity Not Charity” report, introducing the solidarity economy and guiding grantmakers to support it. Co-organizers Nati Linares and Caroline Woolard interviewed over 100 artists for this report and later developed online courses to teach about the solidarity economy, with Lopez joining to help create the curriculum.
Lopez, who learned about the movement in 2018, helped produce the podcast series “Remember the Future” in 2023. The podcast features artists and culture workers involved in solidarity economy work, highlighting how mutual aid and cooperative practices are traditional methods now being revived.
One example is Obvious Agency, a worker-owned cooperative creating interactive art. Daniel Park, from Obvious Agency, emphasized their democratic decision-making, aligning with solidarity economy values. While challenging, this approach is empowering and involves intentional conversations about money and collaboration.
Park hopes more artists will find alternative ways to create and live outside traditional, hierarchical systems, ready to embrace new, creative forms of organization when existing systems fail.
🔭 This summary was human-edited with AI-assist.
