Recent news

• Dr. Ana María Peredo selected as a Broadbent Fellow

  Dr. Ana María Peredo has became a Broadbent fellow!
  
  The Broadbent Institute is an independent, non-partisan organization championing progressive change in Canada through the promotion of democracy, equality, and sustainability and the training of a new generation of leaders.   A multidisciplinary group of  distinguish scholars, policy makers, policy experts and leaders from Canadian civil society have been selected as Broadbent Fellows.

  Congratulations to Ana Maria on being selected for her expertise in economic inequality, social & public policy, social economy, social exclusion & inclusion.

  Read more 

• The Climate Emergency: Perspectives on Fighting Global Warming

  Fred Magdoff(author of What Every Environmentalist Needs to Know About Capitalism &The ABCs of the Economic Crisis) will present The Climate Emergency: Perspectives on Fighting Global Warming on Tuesday, September 24th at 7pm at the University of Victoria in the Harry Hickman building, room 105.
  
  details on facebook

  
  Sponsored by: UVic Environmental Studies, Sociology, Political Science, Geography, Social Justice Studies, Victoria Social Environmental Alliance, and The Vancouver Eco-Socialist Group

• Connected Local Economies in Victoria with Michael Shuman

  SFU Public Square and SFU Community Economic Development present Connected Local Economies in Victoria with Michael H. Shuman on October 1st, 2013 from 6-10pm.  The event will be held at the Victoria Event Centre, 1415 Borad Street, Victoria, B.C.

  Register

  
   
  

• Victoria Public Market Grand Opening

  The Victoria Public Market at the Hudson celebrated its Grand Opening on September 14th and 15th, 2013. 

  The festivities opened with a ribbon cutting ceremony along with music and live entertainment. 

  This permanent year-round marketplace in the downtown core of Victoria is the result of 3 years of work by the Victoria Downtown Public Market Society.  The Victoria Public Market highlights local food producers including farmers, fishers, butchers, backers, cheese-makers, preservers, brewers, vintners florists and restauranteurs. 

• Challenges and Solutions to Preventing and Ending Homelessness

  The next event in the Café Scientifique series on housing and homelessness will be held on September 7th at Discovery coffee (664 Discovery St.)from 3-5pm.
   
  There will be three speakers: Stuart Hertzog (Vancouver Island Social Housing Residents Association), Kara Ronse (M.A. CAM, B.A. Psych, Realtor), and Matt Davies, (MA Candidate, UVic Anth).
   
  The title of the Café is Challenges and Solutions to Preventing and Ending Homelessness. Kara Ronse will be speaking about how landlords' perceptions of single mothers puts them in a vulnerable housing situation. Stuart Hertzog will be speaking about the problems with social housing and potential solutions through ideas such as residents associations. Matt Davis will be speaking about problems and issues faced by social housing tenants and why this form of tenure is important and can provide good homes.
   
  

• The Co-operators National Co-op Challenge application deadline closes July 8th!

  An important part of being a co-op is connecting to other co-ops, supporting their success and encouraging them to grow and get more Canadians involved with co-ops. The Co-operators is pleased to launch The National Co-op Challenge, for a second year, and donating a total of $200,000 to give emerging and expanding co-ops a stronger voice in their communities.
   
  The National Co-op Challenge is an opportunity for emerging co-ops to win valuable prizes aimed at growing their businesses. Along with increasing their exposure in their communities, participants could win funding.
   
  How does it work?
  From June 10 to July 8, co-ops will submit an electronic application and then a panel of judges will narrow the list of entrants to 16 finalists. Each finalist will produce a creative video up to 90-seconds long that highlights their co-op, shows their commitment and enthusiasm for co-op growth, and explains how they would use the funding. Each video will then be available on Facebook, where co-op fans can vote for their favourite to win.
   
  Several chances to win!
  In total, there will be 8 prizes distributed in four regions across the country: West (includes British Columbia, Alberta, Saskatchewan, Manitoba, Yukon, Northwest Territories, Nunavut), Ontario, Quebec and Atlantic. Two co-ops from each region will receive $25,000 in cash funding.
   
  Plus, all winners will also be entered into a random draw to declare one Grand Prize winner. They will receive consulting services, a resource package and a professional video shoot to create a promotional video for their co-op.
   
  Are you up for the challenge? Enter by July 8th!
  
  *Co-operatives who won any level of prizing in the 2012 National Co-op Challenge are not eligible to apply.
   
  Get involved!
  Sign up for The Co-operators Facebook page, then ‘repost’ and ‘share’ contest information and the finalist video’s with your Facebook network. It will help the co-ops who have entered, help get the co-operative message out to more people!
  Include contest details in your newsletters, e-blasts and other communication vehicles. Help us to spread the word about this opportunity!
   
  Visit The Co-operators for Application and Contest Rules and Regulations.
   
  Email nationalcoopchallenge@cooperators.ca for more information.

• Community Engagement Fair

  Monday, June 3rd – 8:30 – 16:00
  Presented by:  Centre for Co-operative and Community-Based Economy, the Institute for Studies and Innovation in Community-University Engagement and the Congress Organizing Committee
  Lobby, McKinnon Building

  The University of Victoria Community Engagement Fair is an event at the 2013 Congress of the Humanities and Social Sciences that brings together local community social economy organizations and UVic regional university-community based research partners for information, discussion, music and talking circles on issues related to community engagement and democracy (led by Budd Hall), community enterprises and economic democracy (led by Ana Maria Peredo) and community-based research and Indigenous peoples.

  
  

• Craigdarroch Award for Excellence in Knowledge Mobilization

  Dr. Ana María Peredo is the recipient of the 2013 Craigdarroch Award for Excellence in Knowledge Mobilization.  This honor recognizes Ana María for her passion and commitment to mobilize knowledge for the cause of poverty alleviation from remote Andean villages to local Vancouver Island communities. 

  Read more

• BLOOD MONEY AT UVic?

  Film, Panel, and Discussion on Goldcorp

  Thurs May 16th, 7 - 9pm, B150 Bob Wright Ctr

  Lekwungen and WSANEC Territories



  * In February, UVic’s School of Business accepted $500,000 from Goldcorp. 

  * Goldcorp is alleged to be a serious abuser of human and indigenous rights.

  * Join us May 16 to build a campaign to change UVic’s donations and investment policies.



  Film:  "The Business of Gold" in Guatemala (50 minutes) documents the resistance of the Mayan-Mam people of San Miguel Ixtahuacan against Canadian mining company Goldcorp Inc.



  Speakers:  Lorenzo Magzul (Indigenous Guatemalan), Heather Tufts (Mining Justice Action Committee), Andrew Fortune (Divest UVic), Mark Willson (Automated UVic)



  In February 2013, UVic’s School of Business announced that they had received a $500,000 donation from Vancouver-based resource firm Goldcorp Inc. to support the school's Centre for Social and Sustainable Innovation (CSSI). In the media release announcing the donation, Chuck Jeannes, President and CEO of Goldcorp, states that “Goldcorp is committed to making a positive difference in the communities where we are located….Our investment in the CSSI aligns with our commitment to operating sustainably, acting responsibly and to growing educational opportunities for young people.”



  There is increasing evidence that suggests that Goldcorp might not be a sustainable, responsible, good neighbour to the communities in which they operate. Indigenous communities in Central America are involved in ongoing and at times life-threatening struggles with Goldcorp. This donation raises serious questions that need to be addressed:

 

  *What is Goldcorp’s relationship with, and impact on, indigenous communities in Guatemala?


  *Should UVic accept donations from (and invest in) companies with poor records of responsible social, economic, political, labor, and environmental activities, particularly in their relationships with indigenous communities at home and abroad?


  *How are such decisions arrived at and approved by UVic, and what needs to be changed?

*What does accepting such donations do to our existing research and educational relationships with the communities involved in such struggles here and abroad?

  map
  face-book page
  contact ~ automateduvic@gmail.com
  more information ~ automateduvic.wordpress.com

  Sponsored by: Mining Justice Action Committee, AutomatedUVic, DivestUVic, Social Justice Studies, Vancouver Island Public Interest Research Group
   
  web.uvic.ca/socialjustice/
  @UVicSJS on Twitter
  UVicSJS on Facebook
  UVicSJS on YouTube

• Singing A New Song: Creating a Renewed Relationship with First Nations

  Sponsored by the Parish of St. John the Divine, Victoria B.C. April 26-27, 2013

  Thanks to the Idle No More movement, Canada’s troubled relationship with its First Nations’ peoples has exploded into the headlines once more. Charges and countercharges have been made and tempers triggered on both sides.

  But is this development simply déjà vu?  When the current headlines fade, will any real progress have been made or a lasting solution found?

  Perhaps. But only if all are willing to acknowledge the past—the good and the bad—and use it to build a lasting new relationship within Canada. 
  That is the theme and purpose of a unique public conference to be held April 26-27 and hosted by the Church of St. John the Divine, 1611 Quadra St., Victoria.

  Singing A New Song: Creating a Renewed Relationship with First Nations will feature five of the leading experts and spokespersons on Aboriginal issues in Canada. This is unique opportunity for all concerned members of the Victoria community to participate in a realistic and equitable relationship-building event with First Nations people.

  Leading off the conference will be John Borrows. Prof. Borrows is widely recognized both in Canada and elsewhere for his prodigious and insightful studies and published works on Aboriginal legal rights and traditions. His work has been quoted by the Supreme Court of Canada in its rulings on Aboriginal cases. He has also served as a consultant on Indigenous issues in other countries. Currently he holds the Robina Chair in Law, Public Policy and Society at the University of Minnesota.

  Prof. Borrows will set the historical context and vision for the conference and describe how the relationship between First Nations and Canada could be repaired and strengthened.

  On Saturday, April 27, the keynote speaker will be Robert Morales. A distinguished lawyer, negotiator and consultant, Mr. Morales is Chief Negotiator for the Hul’qumi’num Treaty Group in its petition to the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. (The HTG is comprised of six First Nations on Vancouver Island. Its head offices are in Ladysmith, B.C.) He is also Chair of the Summit Chief Negotiators Forum, composed of approximately 47 negotiating tables set up to deal with Aboriginal treaty rights in B.C.

  Mr. Morales will address the conference on the rationale and process of using international human rights law to address gaps in Canadian law and legislative practice when it comes to Aboriginal land claims and other treaty issues. He will also suggest how it could provide a just solution to this historical problem.

  Also on Saturday, two prominent experts from the University of Victoria will conduct a panel discussion and present ways of restoring and rebuilding First Nations’ economies, housing, and for recovering traditional legal and governance structures.

  Val Napoleon, Law Foundation Professor of Aboriginal Justice and Governance, is the UVic Governor General’s Gold Medal winner for her 2009 dissertation on Gitskan law and legal theory.

  Ana Maria Peredo is the Director of the Centre for Co-operative and Community-Based Economy and Professor of Sustainable Entrepreneurship and International Business at UVic’s Peter B. Gustavson School of Business. Her focus is on developing and implementing sustainable economic models for Indigenous and underdeveloped communities.

  Other distinguished participants include Glen Coulthard, Assistant Professor of Indigenous Studies and Political Science at University of British Columbia, and Heidi Kiiwetinepinesik Stark, Assistant Professor of Political Science, University of Victoria.

  The conference opens at 7:30pm Friday, April 26 and concludes at 3:30pm Saturday, April 27.  Tickets are $15 and include lunch on Saturday. Call St. John the Divine office at (250) 383-7169.Conference Program
   

• Dr. Ana María Peredo: Honoured with the Victoria Community Leadership Award

  Dr. Ana María Peredo, CCCBE Director and Professor at Gustavson School of Business, has been awarded the 2013 University of Victoria Community Leadership Award. This nomination recognizes Dr. Peredo’s exemplary leadership in linking the University and the community. Through her teaching, her research and her leadership Dr. Peredo has created opportunities for graduate and undergraduate students, to help community organizations.  She works tirelessly to bring people from different disciplines, sectors and communities together to share wisdom and knowledge.  The Victoria Leadership Awards ceremony were held on February 25th.  Congratulations on this well deserved award Ana Maria!

• Victoria Community Health Cooperative 2013 Co-op Day in Victoria

  Co-op Day in Victoria is hosted by the Victoria Community Health Co-operative with support from the CCCBE and many local co-op organizations on Saturday, February 23^rd at Fairfield United Church 1303 Fairfield Road from 11:00am to 2:00pm.  Dr. Ian MacPherson is the featured speaker and will present “ Peace, Co-operation and Sustainability.”

• 2013 Ian MacPherson Graduate Student Scholarship Recipients

  Richard Tuck and Sarah Easter, both PhD candidates from the Gustavson School of Business are the recipients of the 2013 CCCBE Ian MacPherson Graduate Student Scholarships.

  Each year, Dr. Ian MacPherson Scholarship is awarded to one or more outstanding graduate students with an interest in co-operative studies and community-based economy.

• 2013 CASC scholarship competition launched

  The Canadian Co-operative Association (CCA), on behalf of the Canadian Association for Studies in Co-operation (CASC), has launched the 2013 CASC scholarship competition.  The scholarships are aimed at supporting and promoting research on co-operatives by university students.

  Applicants must be pursuing research specifically related to co-operatives (including credit unions), and must include a description of their research project as part of their application.

  The deadline for submitting applications is March 31, 2013.   
  
  

• Announcement for Peace and Social Inclusion Initiative

  We are delighted to announce that Dr. Ian MacPherson, founder and our former Director (BC Institute for Co-operative Studies) has joined us to lead a new initiative for Peace and Social Inclusion. This initiative is hosted and supported by the Centre for Co-operative and Community Based Economy (CCCBE), and is working in association with the Centre for Global Studies as well.

• Call for Papers – Special Issue of Organization

  Worker Cooperatives as an Organizational Alternative: Challenges, Achievements and Promise in Organizational Governance and Ownership

  Coordinators

  • 
Iñaki Santa Cruz, Faculty of Economics and Business Studies. Autonomous University of Barcelona. (Spain)
  • 

Elías Nazareno, Faculty of History. Universidade Federal de Goiás.  (Brazil)


  • George Cheney, School of Communication Studies, Associate Investigator, Ohio Employee Ownership Center, Kent State University (United States)
 
  • Ana Maria Peredo, Gustavson School of Business, Centre for Co-operative and Community Based Economy and University of Victoria (Canada)


  The current financial crisis has revealed structural problems as well as perturbations in the global financial and market systems. Within the context of crisis, there is great interest in experimentation with alternative organizational forms that can both respond to the challenges of today’s economy and restore equilibrium through a renewed emphasis on social values. In particular, worker ownership and governance are gaining attention in a variety of forms and regions. Worker-owned-and-governed cooperatives typically pursue both economic viability and strong forms of participation; further, they are closely tied to community economic and social development. Seeing these multiple objectives as intertwined and in fact necessary is central to the call for the 2012 United Nations’ International Year of the Cooperative, which seeks to highlight the contribution of cooperatives to social and economic development through generating employment, reducing poverty, and fostering social integration. 
 


  Perhaps the most famous contemporary case of worker cooperative organization that achieves the multiple goals described above is the Mondragon Cooperative Group (MCG), one of the largest, long-lived, and successful examples of workers’ owned organizations in the entire world. Mondragon has a remarkable record of financial success and the provision of sound and stable labour conditions. Founded in 1956, the Basque cooperatives now employ almost 100,000 members, are represented in more than a dozen countries, and are the focus of ongoing scrutiny, praise, and critique. While the well-known wage differential has grown somewhat over the years within the system, it remains quite narrow by almost any comparison, even when a number of top-level salaries that are pegged to the market are taken into account. Amidst the current economic downturn that began in 2007 that has resulted in over 20% unemployment in Spain and approximately half that in the Basque Country, the Mondragon co-ops have relied on their historic principles of democracy, equality, solidarity, and participation as fundamental parts of their management strategy. While 24% of Spanish companies have closed down during this recession, the MCG only had to close down one of the 120 cooperatives that form the group, and relocate the 35 workers into other companies. In fact, there is significant evidence of increased democratization in the FAGOR Group, the original industrial cooperatives and the heart of the system.  For all these reasons, now is an important moment for attention to the distinctive characteristics of these cooperatives as well as their lessons for other socially inspired management, organizational, and market models.  The MCG represents but one case; however, given its rich history, diverse characteristics, encounters with globalization, and experimentation in new forms of participation now underway, it provides an extremely important point of reference in any comprehensive or forward-looking examination of worker cooperatives today. 
 


  This call for papers is open to research contributions and critical-theoretical analyses of alternative organizations and especially worker cooperatives.  We are especially interested in nuanced assessments of the methodological, philosophical, socio-political and organizational principles and challenges of workers cooperatives within the broader context of so-called alternative organizations. This means that sound empirical and interpretive investigations in the pursuit of important critical questions are encouraged.  Such assessments may include attention to the activities, performance, and extensions of this kind of alternative organizations. We welcome multidisciplinary contributions and those that take on different perspectives that seek to bridge case-level detail with broader socio-economic trends. In addition, papers presenting theoretical reflections and analyses of specific worker owned cooperatives worldwide (such as Mondragon) should manifest a comparative perspective even if they do not fully examine each of two or multiple cases. Analyses that seek to apply recent developments in democratic theory and in alternative economics are certainly appropriate. Overall, the set of papers in the special issue will illuminate the complexities and changes in worker cooperatives, as they weather an extremely challenging period yet one ripe with opportunity.



  The special issue will reflect the international scope of Organization, advancing its mission as an open, reflective, imaginative, and critical journal about what is happening worldwide that contributes to these reflections. Further, we aim to help to expand the field of organization studies by interrogating the diversity and comparative viability and authenticity of organizational forms and practices, including those grounded in deep forms of democracy and solidarity. By closely examining cooperative organizations, and comparing them with other forms of worker ownership and governance, the special issue will encourage further exploration of diverse forms of organization, managerial practice, and the social economy from all around the globe, widening research on the Mondragon Cooperative Experience (MCE) and other significant examples. Therefore, the call welcomes international collaborations, be they ongoing or ad hoc. 


  Examples of key themes for investigation allowing for further international comparisons include:



  1. The organizational resources, structures, and dynamics allowing for social as well as economic resilience in worker cooperatives;

  

2. The changing roles of leadership in worker cooperatives: considering for example the interplay of various forms of leadership from charismatic to collaborative or group-based;  

  
3. The capacity of and obstacles to the reinvention of democracy within cooperatives, including means to manage and solve conflicts between different goals, sectors, and constituencies (for example, concerning the relationship between worker-member-owners and temporary workers); 



  4. The relationships between cooperatives and organized labour, the state, the community, and the larger financial system;



  5. Maintaining cooperative values while facing crises of participation, identity, and shared ownership and decision making within a system undergoing international expansion.

  

Papers should be no more than 8,000 words, excluding references, and will be blind reviewed following the journal’s standard procedures.  Manuscripts should be prepared according to the guidelines published in Organization and on the journal's website

  
For further information, please contact one of the guest editors: 
 

  
Iñaki Santa Cruz inaki.santacruz@uab.cat

  
Elias Nazareno eliasna@hotmail.com

  George Cheney gcheney@kent.edu

  Ana Maria Peredo aperedo@uvic.ca

• Tamara Vrooman honored with UVic 50th Anniversary Award

  

  The University of Victoria is privileged to honour Tamara Vrooman, Vancity President and CEO as one of five exceptional UVic alumni with a 50th Anniversary Award at A Celebration of 50 Years of Excellence. The award recipients exemplify the rich diversity and tradition of excellence at UVic and embody our vision to be engaged citizens and leaders contributing to the betterment of our local and global communities.

  As the chief executive officer of Canada's largest credit union, Tamara Vrooman is responsible for ensuring Vancity fulfills its vision of redefining wealth for members and communities.
  
  Tamara recently presented Changing the game: Vancity's journey to redefine wealth in the CCCBE Speaker Series. The podcast is now available.

• Best Paper on International Business Award

  Nick Montgomery (PhD student in Political Science) and Dr. Ana Maria Peredo presented their paper co-authored with Eleanor Carlson (Anthropology and former CCCBE graduate student fellow), "The BOP Discourse as Capitalist Hegemony" at the Annual Meeting of the Academy of Management in Boston, August 2012.  The paper was chosen as the Best Paper on International Business and was nominated for the Carolyn Dexter Award.  

  This paper draws on theories from postcolonialism, feminism, and post-structuralism, the paper argues that the increasingly popular "Bottom of the Pyramid" paradigm obscures non-capitalist alternatives and resistance to capitalism.  Sincere thanks to Emmalee Brunt for her excellent work on the literature review for this award winning paper. 

  Congratulations on this award!

Upcoming events

 

View all events on the CCCBE events calendar

 

• CCCBE Speaker Series: The Gordian Knot of Social Economy? - 2013-11-07
  Description:

  The CCCBE Speaker Series presents: 

  The Gordian Knot of Social Economy? An integrative values based understanding of social business and social impact:  A conversation with Dr. J.J. McMurtry.

  In Canada, and indeed around the world, there has been a proliferation of practices that can broadly constructed as Social Economy activity.  However, despite broad agreement that Social Economy activities are growing and indeed are crucial to a twenty-first century economy, neither academics nor activist agree on exactly what the boarders of this activity are.  This talk will unpack the practical and theoretical importance of understanding the Social Economy through an integrative values framework and will address the intersection between social economy and social enterprise.  
  
  Dr. J.J. McMurty is the Graduate Program Director of the Social and Political Thought Program and an Associate Professor in the Business and Society Program at York University.

  
  Location:CORNETT BUILDING - A120
  Times:16:00 - 17:00
  Pricing:

  This Centre for Co-operative and Community-Based Economy (CCCBE) Speaker Series Presentation is free & open to the public with support from Central 1 Credit Union, The Co-operators, Federated Co-operatives Ltd. and the Gustavson School of Business.

  
  URL:
  http://events.uvic.ca/?view=day&cal=1041&day=07&month=11&year=2013#event_heading_92572