If you’ve seen Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis’ excellent 2004 documentary The Take, you know about the cooperative/collectivist workers’ movement that sprouted following the collapse of Argentina’s economy in 2001. (If you haven’t, you should: watch the trailer here.)
Today, almost 10 years after the collapse, nearly 200 worker-run businesses are soldiering through another economic crisis. But the sustainability of this movement isn’t just threatened by the current global downturn: Divisions within the movement, apathy from the government, hostile courts and a lack of capital all challenge the factories’ health and future.
That’s according to Adam Case, a former ITT intern who traveled to Argentina last year to visit some of the factories and talk with some of the principal organizers. Check out his brand-new InTheseTimes.com feature story, “To Resist is to Survive,” detailing what he learned. Nearly a decade after workers occupied the first factory, their story and struggles are more relevant than ever.
Again, his story is here.
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Jeremy Gantz is an In These Times contributing editor working at Time magazine.
