The Imaginal Cells of the Solidarity Economy: Community Ownership

Cities@Tufts Lectures

We have a special series of episodes that we’ll be sharing over the next few months between now and when Cities@Tufts officially resumes for our fourth season in the Fall.

Over the course of our lecture series, we’ve talked a lot about the crucial role that community plays in building alternatives to capitalistic models of access, resource distribution and social equity. We are living through a historic moment where the common crises - from climate change to the erosion of democracy, virulent racism and fascism — are constantly emerging and evolving.

It’s without blame, and fairly common, to get trapped in a kind of hopelessness that another world is attainable in the face of ever-growing systems of oppression. But we believe two things. Not only that another world is possible, but that it’s often already here. We believe that the world that our planet and everyday people need is often within reach, waiting for us to take hold, take root, take action and to re-shape our everyday lives through radical collaboration, collective activism and a world of care.

This week we are joined by some pretty amazing guests as part of the Imaginal Cells of the Solidarity Economy webinar series, giving us some insight about how post-capitalist models of survival and sustainability are constantly being created by communities all over the country, addressing some of the most critical issues we face everyday — such as housing, childcare, food access and sovereignty.

We’ll be hearing from Minnie McMahon, of the Dudley St. Neighborhood Initiative, a community-led housing and land trust in Boston. We’ll hear from Mindy Barbakoff of Childspace, a worker-owned childcare center in Philadelphia. And we’ll also hear from Amaha Selassie of Gem City, a food cooperative in Dayton, Ohio. All Moderated by Steve Dubb of the Nonprofit Quarterly

Cities@Tufts Lectures explores the impact of urban planning on our communities and the opportunities to design for greater equity and justice with professor Julian Agyeman and host Tom Llewellyn.

Cities@Tufts Lectures is produced by Tufts University and Shareable.net with support from The Kresge Foundation, Barr Foundation and SHIFT Foundation.

Lectures are moderated by Professor Julian Agyeman and organized in partnership with research assistant Deandra Boyle. Roame Jasmin is our producer, Robert Raymond is our audio editor, the graphic recording was illustrated by Anke Dregnet, and the series is produced and hosted by Tom Llewellyn.

“Light Without Dark” by Cultivate Beats is our theme song and Caitlin McLennon created this episode's graphic.