← Back to context

Comment by nickpinkston

2 years ago

I've studied and visited Mondragon before, and hosted their students at my company. It's very cool, but I'm unsure how replicable the model really is.

My conclusion is that it emerged out of the unique environment of already high Basque solidarity, but even more so under Franco's oppression. After a few generations, they admit that the hardcore spirit is gone and made initiatives to try to restore it, but still some of the biggest co-ops have died or been sold off (ie Fagor).

My friends from there told me: "It's where your dumb cousin works", as it's very political with a lot of patronage kinds of networks that democratic elections at that scale tend to produce. They made a startup community there, but it seemed like most of the kids were trying to get out, not stay to reform the coop.

I think the Italian Emilia Romagna region cooperatives [1] may be a less centralized model that could be better, as it does away with the big organization that eventually rots, like any big old org.

[1] https://www.yesmagazine.org/economy/2016/07/05/the-italian-p...

6 comments

nickpinkston

Reply
calf  2 years ago

Based on what I've heard I'd love to visit there and even have a chance to intern there. I'd like to see for myself firsthand what life would be like. Would it be boring? Would it be bureaucratic or unmeritocratic? Would that bother me personally? I don't speak Spanish, unfortunately.

Obviously this article gives a rosy picture. However, the renewed interest in alternatives is precisely due to the new forms of arbitrary oppression that 21st century capitalism inflicts on many people, so maybe that would be one pathway for Mondragon and other meta-coops to flourish. Who knows.

Moreover, it's not like actually-existing capitalism doesn't tend to produce its own forms of inequality. Maybe a sociologist or economist could show that the "patronage networks" in something like Mondragon are an effect of their structure but the overall negative outcomes are lessened/mitigated compared to the negative social outcomes of Western capitalism. A proper comparison would be an open research question.

That's too bad about Fagor, 10 years ago I ordered a pressure cooker from them but had it returned immediately due to an improper lid fit. That would've been around the time of its decline and eventual closing off. I ended up buying a 2x more expensive pot from a Swiss company, it's lasted me 10 years so far.

  • nickpinkston  2 years ago

    They also don't speak much Spanish there, as the Basques have their own ancient unique language (a non-Indo-European isolate actually) and culture due to their mountain isolation and resistance to everyone, even the Romans. The people I worked with there all spoke English.

    You might try reaching out to these guys if you want to visit. They actually get a lot of visitors, and there's a whole tour program I did when I was there.

    https://mondragonteamacademy.com/

    As far as the effectiveness of Mondragon, I agree that we shouldn't judge it by capitalist standards, but more ask: Can it survive within capitalism while still doing well by its people?

    I worry that Fagor, etc. may point to that not being long-term true, but it has been around for a long time, so maybe not. I more think that their model is hard to replicate outside of their high solidary cultural environment, rather than predicting their demise.