FIGHTing for the Soul of Black Capitalism: Struggles for Black Economic Development in Postrebellion Rochester

Inequalities in democratic worker-owned firms by gender, race and immigration status: evidence from the first national survey of the sector

“…Scholars have documented a long history of Black mutual aid societies, W.E.B. DuBois's writings on economic cooperation, and cooperative activism in movements for civil rights and Black nationalism that informs contemporary efforts to promote Black self-determination (Akuno and Nangwaya, 2017;Gordon Nembhard, 2014;Hill and Julia, 2012;White, 2018). A few recent quantitative papers from Spain also find that immigrants in worker cooperatives do not experience wage penalties or vulnerabilities to the business cycle (in terms of hiring and firing), unlike their counterparts in conventional firms (Clemente et al, 2012;Sala-Rios et al, 2017).…”

“…From a theoretical standpoint, there are many reasons to believe that ownership and democratic control would benefit workers from historically marginalized groups. Indeed, case studies and historical work demonstrate that women, immigrants and people of color have often turned to cooperatives as a respite from systemic injustices against these groups in capitalist labor markets (Akuno and Nangwaya, 2017;Bell et al, 2018;Gordon Nembhard, 2014;Hill and Julia, 2012;Oerton, 1994;White, 2018). Yet studies have also highlighted the persistence of inequalities in worker-owned firms (Hacker, 1988;Hacker and Elcorobairutia, 1987;Meyers and Vallas, 2016;Oseen, 2016;Sobering, 2016;Sobering et al, 2014).…”