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Can transformative change come to America?

by Gus Speth

The good news is systemic change may happen more rapidly than once seemed possible. But how the US and the world address the climate crisis will be a powerful determinant of what is possible. read more
Movement Strategy & History Environment & Energy
Nenad Stojkovic via Flickr

Gar Alperovitz on how change happens over “pizza and some beer”

by Gar Alperovitz

Gar Alperovitz talks about how the democratic economy can come into being much as movements did in the 1960s: “Six friends get together and get some pizza and some beer.” read more
Movement Strategy & History Democratic Ownership
Water manhole cover

From pragmatic to politicized? The future of water remunicipalization in the United States

by Thomas Hanna

As with many countries, the United States has experienced swings of public and private operation of its water services for more than 150 years. Most water services in the country began as private enterprises in the 1800s but were municipalized from the late 19th century into the 1930s. read more
Community & Place
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The following organizations are part of the movement working towards discovering and creating systemic solutions to the systemic political, economic, social, and environmental problems in our world today. We understand that our current system is broken, now our task is to find solutions and end this period of crisis. read more
Movement Strategy & History
Signs carried by marchers reading "El Pueblo Unido" and "United for Jobs Justice and Climate"

Taking climate action to the next level

by Gus Speth, Carla Skandier, Johanna Bozuwa

Real climate leadership means changing the system in ways that get to the root causes of climate change and other societal ills. Three groundbreaking and complementary interventions could transform the power structures that promote and enable our problematic energy and political-economic systems: quantitative easing for the planet, public ownership for energy democracy, and anchor strategies for the energy transition. read more
Environment & Energy
A man looking at a pink sea.

Latin America’s “pink tide” and the challenge of systemic change

As the United States confronts its own political crossroads, we hope the insights here can contribute to a sharpening our analysis of political change and help further our understanding of the possibilities—and challenges—that await us as we pursue system change. read more
Democracy & Governance
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Videos

Online Roundtable: Nationalization

We’ll be sorting out the surprising history of nationalization in the US, the demands currently on the table, and what we need to know in order to make sure nationalization is used to make a more democratic economy, not set up a post-crisis reconsolidation of corporate power. read more
Economic Update host Richard Wolff interviews John Duda

Worker co-ops rising

Democracy Collaborative communications director John Duda explains in this edition of “Economic Update with Richard Wolff” how worker cooperatives have become a rising movement that is shaping mainstream economic development strategy around the country. read more
Democratic Ownership
Joe Guinan on Raising Incomes panel

The role of worker ownership in raising incomes

by Isaiah J. Poole

The Next System Project’s Joe Guinan called for a “democratic ownership revolution” at a Washington forum organized to discuss strategies for addressing extreme wealth inequality in the United States. read more
Democratic Ownership
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Reports

Health innovation policy for the people

Health innovation policy for the people

by Shobita Parthasarathy

Healthcare innovation policy in the United States has yielded some benefits but has also done harm, specifically when it comes o health equity. This paper identifies four such harms and offers recommendations that address the needs of marginalized communities and produces for all of us the innovations we really need. read more
Health & Wellbeing Democratic Ownership
Regeneration not gentrification

A “new direction”: Rediscovering community wealth building in an age of gentrification

by Nishani Frazier

To preserve communities in the throes of displacement, cooperative movements and new economy advocates must pivot in a new direction that blends place and the democratic economy. This “new direction” actually borrows from an idea nearly 50 years old. read more
Community & Place Democratic Ownership
Revisiting community control of land and housing

Revisiting community control of land and housing in the wake of COVID-19

by Thomas Hanna

As the nation’s housing crisis deepens during the COVID-19 pandemic, we urgently need new approaches and institutions that center permanent affordability, community ownership and control, and the long-term goal of decommodification. read more
Community & Place Democratic Ownership
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