We’re Transforming the New Economy with our Mutual Aid Cooperative
This past fortnight has been a whirlwind of ideas and actions for the HCN team as we work to transform the new economy. If you’re unsure of what the ‘new economy’ is, that’s okay because so are we – the new economy is whatever we make it. It’s perhaps better to frame the new economy as what comes next after the ‘old economy’ – the traditional methods of doing business, an extractive labour market and industries, shaped by the colonial capitalist mindset of the West. Some might say we’re already in a post-capitalist economy, others might say we’re still deeply entrenched in a system where ‘business as usual’ looks similar to how it did 200 years ago, while others think we are on the precipice of transition.
Last weekend, our founder Tiyana J was in Canberra for the New Economy Network Australia (NENA) biennial conference, the theme of of which was ‘Life After Capitalism?’ Tiyana spoke on a youth panel alongside post-grad policy student Tarik and members of the Degrowth Network in Naarm, Elvie and Bella— and the four definitely brought down the average age of the participants by quite a bit! If you’re keen to hear some youth perspectives on how we work to bring about change, we shared the panel in the latest episode of the Changemaker Q&A podcast, Youth Perspectives on Creating a Post-Capitalist Future. If you have any questions about degrowth, environmental economics, or a post-capitalist economy, feel free to ask your questions and Tiyana will answer them on the pod!
The Humanitarian Changemakers Network has just joined as an official member of NENA, and we are thrilled to share some exciting news that marks a significant shift in our collective journey towards fostering positive change and social impact! You may know that HCN operates through a redistributive social enterprise model, where we redistribute profits from HCN to various nonprofit initiatives and charities. Moving forward, we want to ensure that we can use these profits to better support our community of Changemakers, so we are forming a member cooperative.
A co-operative is a democratic organisation, owned and controlled by its members for a common benefit. We are forming Mutual Aid Australia, a non-distributing (not-for-profit) cooperative that HCN can redistribute its profits to, and members will be able to vote and collectively decide on the allocation of resources and funds.
At its core, mutual aid embodies the principle of reciprocal assistance and collective action. It involves individuals and communities coming together to provide support, resources, and care to one another based on shared needs and solidarity. Unlike traditional charity models, mutual aid emphasises the importance of mutual reciprocity, dignity, and empowerment.
Mutual aid initiatives nurture systems of solidarity by creating networks that bridge gaps in support mechanisms. These networks transcend socioeconomic, cultural, and geographical boundaries, uniting individuals and communities in shared goals of assistance, empowerment, and advocacy. Through collective action, mutual aid strengthens social bonds and fosters a sense of belonging and interconnectedness.
Mutual Aid Australia will also offer a digital marketplace for members to offer their own forms of mutual aid to other members. For example, I’ve been building a nice little backyard nursery of perennial plants and I would love to give them them away to other changemakers who are keen to grow their own food or just add a bit of green to their home.
In order to get this organisation off the ground, we are doing a pre-launch crowdfund, with the aim of raising $2500AUD, to cover the startup and registration costs, insurance, and all those boring but important things, as well as the costs to the launch our MVP, which will allow us to onboard up to 50 members to the online platform, and test everything before we go public. We would LOVE for as many of our community members as possible to get behind this initiative — if you donate $12AUD (or more) that will qualify as your annual membership and you will officially be a member-owner of the cooperative!