Co-ops, coffeeshops and community

COMMUNITY coffeeshops like Wild Bill's in Iowa City, IA and the Red
Rooster in Aberdeen, SD are based on ideas as old as social work. The
profession began over a century ago -- largely around the idea that
"all lives are connected to other lives" (Konopka, 1991, p. 29)

Jane Addams, one of social work's founding mothers, called for an
integrated practice which acted out this principle of connection. She said
social work should be committed to strengthening neighborhoods as well as
strengthening individuals.

Addams and Florence Kelley started Hull House as a model to do this. Their
idea was based on social work as "having a holistic rather than
specialization approach, advocating for social reform while giving
services, bridging groups and classes of people," writes Rolland F. Smith.
It also included "having an orientation to family and neighborhood
strengths rather than to individual pathologies" (1995, p. 2130).

Addams' idea of social work was a fairly radical notion when Hull House
opened in 1889. It's at least as radical today in a society which is based
on an exceptionally strong notion of individualism. In so many ways, modern
American society has been built around segmenting the lives of people.

First, there is the separation between work and home. This is heightened
by the increasing distances between one and the other.

Then there is the separation at work, where many jobs have become very
specialized. From construction to social work, from education to
manufacturing, jobs have been shifting away from generalist and towards
specialist for more than a century (Cox, 1965).

Finally, there is the growing separation of neighborhoods by income. The
growth of the suburbs (and the urban renewal of the cities) during the
last 50 years has fueled this, resulting in isolation by income for so
many families and individuals (Powell, 1998).

Even at the beginning of the 20th century, Addams saw this separation
among people and neighborhoods. "The social organism has broken down
through large districts of our great cities," she wrote (1965, p. 31).

Addams and the other women of Hull House tested many ideas for overcoming
this separation and breakdown. The coffeehouse was among them, along with
co-ops, labor unions, and community theater. These were approaches which,
in the words of Cindy St. George, "accommodate individual and community
interests under one common framework" (1997, p. 6).

Jane Addams envisioned the coffeehouse as a place where people could
experience a sense of belonging and a sense of community. Everyone needs
this, Ernesto Galarza said in a talk about social work education. Every
person, even individuals with mental illness, chronic alcoholism or
otherwise "severely damaged" should have the chance to "take part in some
type of social relationships" (1993, p. 17).

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Addams, Jane (1965) In Social Thought of Jane Addams. Edited by
Christopher Lasch Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill Co.

Cox, Harvey (1965). Secular City. New York: Macmillan.

Galarza, Ernesto (1993). Social work education and the Chicano experience.
San Jose Studies, 23 (Winter), 9-18.

Konopka, Gisela (1991). All lives are connected to other lives: The
meaning of social group work. In Theory and Practice in Group Work. New
York: Haworth Press.

Powell, John A (1998). Overcoming the social engineering of the suburbs,
Works: The Journal of the College of Architecture and Landscape
Architecture (University of Minnesota, Twin Cities). 1 (2), 29-30.

St. George, Cindy (1997). Mission of social work revisited. St. Paul,
Minnesota: School of Social Work, College of St. Catherine/University of
St. Thomas.

Smith, Rolland F (1995). Settlement houses and neighborhood centers. In
Encyclopedia of Social Work. Washington, DC: NASW Press.

CO-OPS ARE ANOTHER WAY
TO BUILD COMMUNITY

COFFEESHOPS like Bill's and Red Rooster are one way to build
community. Another model is the cooperative. Actually, some
coffeeshops, such as the Hard Times Cafe in Minneapolis, are
cooperatives, too.

Social work's founders also experimented with co-ops as a way to
improve people's lives and build stronger communities. Addams and the
others at Hull House joined with their neighbors to start several
co-ops. One was an energy co-op which bought coal for heating in bulk.
Another co-op provided housing for working women.

The cooperative idea still has great appeal. A new wave of co-op
grocery stores has sprouted in the last 30 years. Towns from
Minneapolis to Decorah and from Aberdeen to Iowa City have consumer
co-op groceries. A new wave of housing co-ops has also started in many
Midwest communities. These new cooperatives have sprung up alongside
sturdy agricultural co-ops which have been in business for generations.

There are two basic types of co-ops. One type, called a consumer
co-op, allows everyone who shops to be a member. Members elect a board
to oversee the business. Profits from sales go to member-owners. The
other type, a worker co-op, limits membership to those who work in the
business. A few co-ops have blended the two.

Co-ops and community coffeeshops are extensions of our democratic
ideals. They extend the idea of democracy in the marketplace. They
show the potential for neighborhoods, communities -- and even a world
-- based on peace and justice for all.

WORKING TOGETHER, BUT
CONTINUING TO DEBATE

Creating and maintaining co-ops and community coffeeshops is hard work. One reason, of course, is that these institutions bring together people from many different walks of life. They share the goal of sustaining a coffeeshop or co-op, but they are likely to have widely varying ideas on how to do that.

A second reason is that few of us have experience with democracy in
the marketplace. Most businesses we know operate on the principle that the
"boss" is in charge and that's it.

Co-ops and community coffeeshops operate on the principle that
everyone has a right to participate in decisionmaking. It's a fairly
radical notion in a world of business dominated by chain stores and
shopping malls.

Participatory decisionmaking isn't easy. It takes a lot of time and
energy. And there is likely to be much debate and discussion,
particularly at key moments in the life of a co-op or coffeeshop.
There is nothing like a financial crisis, for example, or an expansion
plan, to turn up the heat of the debate.

But that's not something to be afraid of, or to try to squelch. Jane
Addams said a number of times that the problem in our democracy is not
that there's too much debate, but too little.

The best co-ops -- and longest-lasting ones -- have been those where
members have been able to debate differences and successfully find
common ground. This isn't something which can be forced or imposed.

It's also important to note that co-op members can have very different
political and social views and still work together. Being part of a
co-op doesn't mean giving up who you are. In fact, that may be a
co-op's most important gift to a community: Cooperation is possible on
a common goal despite great differences.