In a small town in the semi-desert of Hidalgo, a group of men and women of Ñañú origin are setting an example of rural community development – a cooperative rural development that protects natural resources, cares for traditions and respects people. This is part of their success. As heirs of the agrarian reform of the thirties, they have shown that the ejido remains a possible means for the development of rural communities, through cooperativism. Their secret lies in the "ejido" cooperative which was formed by their grandparents. Set in a spectacular box canyon where a thermal river gushes from the side of a mountain, the Tolantongo cooperative has built a popular resort by their own efforts. Members of the cooperative share in the profits from their labor and alternate jobs in a democratic egalitarian community. Their story reveals that organized people can be the creators of their own destiny. There is much to learn from this model of a local community economy through cooperativism that respects nature, people and traditions.
We surely live in interesting times--from the deepening of U.S.-led militarism to existential ecological and economic crises to shifts in the world order ranging from a significant decline of the Global North along with the rise of the East and Global South. Vijay Prashad, executive director of the Tricontinental Institute for Social... Read more