What do you envision for the future of the FIC and the communities movement?

Discussion
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I would like to see more transparency and means of ensuring (or at least assessing) accountability in communities. I recently left a community in NYC that I’d been a member of for over 12 years. My last two years there were horrendous and, once I left, I was hoping to be able to find people through IC.org to talk with who may have experienced something similar, or at least a means through which to share my experience and perhaps warn others… If the FIC can help facilitate more communication and support for members and former members of various groups, I think we’d encourage more accountability and less people would fall (or get pushed) through the cracks…

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Here are some of the links shared in the online event:

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One way I see ecovillages in the future, is being places where climate refugees (mostly fellow ecovillagers who had already visited before) could go in case of drought / conflict in theis own area / country.

I envision the number of people living sort of nomadic lifes increasing (Nomadland documentary), and Ecovillages being places to go work on producing food.

I would also ask, is a small village in rural Madagascar, an ecovillage, even if they’ve never heard the word?

18°52’12.0"S 48°40’34.9"E - Google Maps

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In the co-op world, Karen Miner and Sonja Novkovic of St. Mary’s University’s program in cooperative management write about there being two types of cooperatives. Type 1 cooperatives are primarily focused on member benefit in the face of monopoly, monopsony, and market failures. Type 2 cooperatives, besides a focus on member benefit, have a mission toward social and environmental impact. These co-ops are part of the social economy. I would say that there is a third type, co-ops that are not just focused on member benefit and the common good of social and environmental impact, but that are specifically anti-capitalist, movement-based, and place-based. These cooperatives are part of the solidarity economy. They are likely more outward facing, as well as inward facing, as type 2 cooperatives can be, but are more focused on systemic change.

I appreciate the thoughts that have been brought up in this discussion. I like the idea of IC’s focusing on personal support of members, organizational well-being, and their role in society. I think the individual-organization-society relationship is important. I also think that movement organizing has some important theories of change to bring to the discussion of IC’s role in society. They can obviously provide alternatives to capitalism and dominant institutions. Taking from Erik Olin Wright, there also can be smash, tame, and escape theories of change with dominant institutions. The escape role has been thoroughly demonstrated by many IC’s. Some activist communities might take part in a smashing or eroding capitalism. Certainly IC’s can take part in more than one of these theories of change at the same time. IC’s can also be for member benefit, community giving, and political action all at the same time.

IC’s have many flavors of mission. I wonder if what we’re talking here about a specific type of IC - those that operate within the solidarity economy. I appreciate how this conversation was started as a calling people in to thinking about their IC’s as moving in this direction. I hope that’s the trajectory. Still, I wonder if it would help to narrow the big umbrella approach to supporting IC’s to coming up with support for IC’s operating within the solidarity economy. Thoughts?

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