Social change and systems change go hand-in-hand. Movements for democracy and human rights are most effective when they aim to transform unjust, unequitable economic systems. In this episode, Laura Flanders travels to Spain to learn how people in two of the regions most brutally repressed under the dictatorship of Francisco Franco built the world’s largest worker-owned co-ops. From the Basque Country to Barcelona, she speaks with co-op members who explain how cooperation and humanist models of business helped their parents and grandparents survive dictatorship. She also explores how these models are transforming under contemporary circumstances, including the emergence of digital platforms, the renewal of the regional independence movements, and the growth of the Spanish right wing.
Photo: Erol Ahmed