Sharing Like We Mean It: Working Co-operatively in the Cultural and Tech Sectors
A hybrid co-op primer and research report, Sharing Like We Mean It: Working Co-operatively in the Cultural and Tech Sectors is based on a survey of more than 100 co-operatives in Canada, the UK, and the US. It offers a snapshot of the co-op landscape in creative industries, explores what co-operative work can look like in practice, and features profiles of several worker co-ops. Our research reveals a small yet vibrant subset of co-ops in the cultural and tech fields, from co-operatively run art galleries to co-op advertising agencies, web development companies, architecture firms, coworking spaces, and ceramics studios.
Our survey results confirm that the co-operative model is a promising strategy for mitigating individualized patterns of work, democratizing work relationships, and providing satisfying work in creative industries contexts. Co-ops are not a magic solution to systemic work problems. But the co-op model—in conjunction with other pro-worker policies and organizations—holds potential to democratically remake work in ways that have yet to be fully realized, or widely tested, in creative industries.
Alongside Sharing Like We Mean It, we published a technical report, The Co-operative Alternative and the Creative Industries, which provides a fuller account of our survey results. Find the technical report here.
