I did see a user on a Reddit communism community arguing in a thread about co-ops vs. communism that while worker co-ops aren’t an alternative to communism, they can very well cause or strengthen support for communism as they provide the proletariat that are still under capitalism a taste of collective ownership of the means of production, and shows them living examples that it can totally work, and so communists shouldn’t denounce it.
What are your thoughts? Anyone know more about the theory behind this or can link to resources? If this is the case, should communists support worker co-ops in capitalist countries?
So for a socialist or communist in a capitalist country, given the choice to buy from or work at a co-op or a conventional business (assuming said act was a necessity), there would be no real difference with either? As in, should we still support co-op movements or not bother? Or would supporting co-ops be even worse than supporting normal businesses?
KiwiProle talked about class consciousness in their comment, I’m assuming they mean a co-op that has a lot of actual leftists in it? Do you agree with them or have anything to add to that?
We should be supporting co-ops, there’s no reason not to. The main issue with them is that they’re not a way out of capitalism, which some who argue for them tend to either imply or flat out say.
class consciousness isn’t everything. You can have all the class consciousness in the world, but if you don’t have political theory behind it, it’s useless. Unions don’t lead successful strikes because workers have a kinship and understand class dynamics, they win because they put theory into action. And, unfortunately, in the case of co-ops there is often a lack of theory behind the organization. Or, the theory is utopian, and should be dismissed on that basis.
Kind of a hypothetical situation I’m curious about: What would you think of a socialist or communist that founds and/or works in a high up position in a worker co-op (presumably such a position would be elected by employees)? I could see the justification of that founder as being an attempt to give back at least some worker control as well as at least reducing worker suffering in a capitalist state while working toward real socialism. Assuming they won’t think that doing co-op is socialism like you feared but still recognizes the need for actual socialism and is active toward that end. Would you see this act as being antithetical to communism or socialism or would you see it as better as them working in a regular capitalist business?
Would you see being an elected leader in a worker co-op as on par with being a union leader from a socialist perspective? Or worse?