Participation

Mapping participation in economic advancement

Case studies of participation in economic decision making

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Edited by Alan Stanley
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Economic processes impact the lives and livelihoods of people who frequently have little or no voice in these processes. In this guide we map alternatives: ways that communities, governments and enterprises are making economic decisions in which ‘ordinary’ people have a real voice. While these cases vary widely in the strategies pursued and their end goals, this guide starts to build an evidence base to explore the question: “What constitutes meaningful participation in economic advancement?”

The examples in this map have been identified through our networks, alongside a public call for cases. It presents the cases in three areas: alternative business and financing models that enable participation; examples of citizen voice in government economic policy-making; and participatory economic alternatives where people have created structures of exchange and ownership rooted in collective autonomy and mutual benefit. These cases range over the spectrum of participation, and across closed, invited and claimed or created spaces as discussed in the ‘What is Participation?’ overview guide.

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Business and financing models that enable participation

These business and financing models enable workers, consumers, communities, farmers, for example, to have a voice in the way that businesses are run, investment decisions are made, value chains are governed and sector activity is managed. Examples include the participation of workers or consumers on company boards, self-managed/autonomous work teams, or more collaborative value chain arrangements. Most examples fall under invited spaces, in which processes of information sharing and deliberation, along with training on business, technical, quality, leadership, and organisational skills enable participation. 

These examples can be contrasted with traditionally centralised or hierarchical decision-making by enterprises, investors and funders over how capital and other resources are deployed and how production is organised.  Here, groups affected by or involved in economic activities are enabled to hold these entities to account or take part in elements of decision-making.  In some cases, examples include widening enterprise ownership.  The main aim is to ensure that the benefits created by economic processes are more justly shared by those involved.

One example is the case of self-directed work teams at W. L. Gore and Associates, a privately-held multinational company founded in 1958, most famous for producing Gore-Tex. Since its founding, Gore and Associates has operated through a "lattice" system of employee self-management which is said to verge on true workplace participatory democracy. Key features include a flat hierarchy in which the CEO is elected, self-managed work teams with small team sizes to secure ownership in collective decision-making, and free information flow.

RECOMMENDED READING:

Linking participation and economic advancement: Buen Vivir Fund case study
Institute of Development Studies UK, 2019
The Buen Vivir Fund is a participatory impact investment fund operating internationally. It was founded in 2018 by Thousand Currents, a non-governmental organisation, following a co-design process to conceptualise the Fund, initiated in late 2016. The Buen Vivir Fund has intentionally started small in terms of volume of capital, having raised US$1m in loan capital for its initial investment cycle in 2018–20.
W.L. Gore & Associates Inc.: Workplace democracy in a transnational corporation
Institute of Development Studies UK, 2019
W. L. Gore and Associates (Gore) is a privately-held multinational company founded in 1958. Since its founding, it has operated through a "lattice" system of employee self-management which is said to verge on true workplace participatory democracy. Key features include a flat hierarchy in which the CEO is elected, self-managed work teams with small team sizes to secure ownership in collective decision-making, and free information flow. “Associates” (as the workers are known) step forward to lead when they have the expertise to do so; a practice referred to as “knowledge-based decision-making”.
Participatory guarantee systems in Tanzania: Locally focused quality assurance systems
Institute of Development Studies UK, 2019
Participatory Guarantee Systems (PGSs) are alternative certification schemes for organic products, built on trust and social networks, and intended for local markets. In contrast to third party export-oriented certification schemes, farmers working with PGSs are directly involved in the implementation of the system. Farmer-to-farmer peer-review is also an essential feature, built on equality and knowledge-sharing between the inspector and the inspected.
Buen Vivir Fund: participatory impact investing
Institute of Development Studies UK, 2020
The Buen Vivir Fund is a participatory impact investment fund operating internationally. It was founded in 2018 by Thousand Currents, a nongovernmental organisation, following a co-design process to conceptualise the Fund, initiated in 2016. The Buen Vivir Fund started small in terms of volume of capital, having raised US$1m in loan capital for its initial investment cycle of 2018–20.This US$1m, plus US$300,000 raised in grant capital, is being deployed with the guidance of the Fund’s Members Assembly.
RSF Social Finance: transforming the way the world works with money
Institute of Development Studies UK, 2020
RSF Social Finance is a public benefit financial services organisation dedicated to transforming the way the world works with money. RSF offers investing, lending, and giving services to individuals and enterprises committed to improving society and the environment.The example of RSF provides valuable lessons of how to facilitate meaningful and direct relationships across sectors and among diverse stakeholders within a structure of disciplined investment practice.
BPDC: Costa Rica’s worker-owned bank
Institute of Development Studies UK, 2020
Banco Popular (Banco Popular y de Desarrollo Comunal, BPDC) is a cooperative bank that is owned and managed by the workers of Costa Rica. Its diverse clients include workers, farmers, enterprises, and a variety of development associations. Workers who hold a savings account for over one year have the right to shared ownership in the bank while employers and workers together contribute to the bank’s capital base.The governing body of BPDC is a democratically elected Worker’s Assembly comprised of 290 representatives from among the bank’s worker-owners.
IBEKA: community-owned and managed mini grids in Indonesia
Institute of Development Studies UK, 2020
Institut Bisnis dan Ekonomi Kerakyatan (IBEKA), or People Centred Economic and Business Institute, supports rural electrification by installing small-scale hydro or wind mini grids and setting up village-based organisations to own, maintain and operate the systems. Elements that support participation include community ownership of energy infrastructure (mini grid) alongside community-managed enterprises to run them. Revenue generated from the mini-grids are shared through a community fund and spent based on collective decision-making.  

Citizen voice in economic policy-making

Citizen voice in economic policy-making includes those cases in which people have been consulted, involved or collaborated in policy-making on macro-economic issues such as debt, tax and interest rates, and policies pertaining to resource ownership, economic production or market governance.  These include closed spaces that have been opened to participation through global advocacy and protests, such as the Jubilee Debt Campaign on developing world debt, and those which involve more collaborative processes at local level such as citizens’ economic councils. 

Traditionally, these types of policy decisions are the preserve of a small group of technocratic experts, and their legalistic, technical and opaque nature is often exclusionary or may be used to exclude wider voices. In these examples, however, participation is fostered via advocacy on the part of excluded groups, recognition of their legitimacy by those in power, and/or the institutionalisation of their role in policy-processes. The results are to improve transparency, accountability and the quality of policy-making, protect ordinary people from the negative impacts of structural reforms and ensure their concerns and aspirations are taken into account, and protect economic rights (e.g. to a livelihood, to access resources) and economic justice (e.g. vis a vis debt or tax and redistribution).

One example includes Jubilee 2000, a highly successful global campaign to bring about debt relief for developing countries. It involved activists and NGOs from more than 60 countries campaigning against unfair debt, and eventually resulted in negotiations with the World Bank and IMF and the clearance of US$100 billion of debt owed by more than 35 countries to foreign creditors. At the heart of the movement was a belief that ordinary people could grasp complex international finance issues and be empowered to act. The campaign questioned the moral and ethical nature of debt, highlighted corruption behind much lending and borrowing, and proved that debt relief was not only economically and politically feasible, but could lead to desirable social outcomes...

RECOMMENDED READING:

Linking participation and economic advancement. Ghana Civil Society Platform on the IMF Programme: case study
Institute of Development Studies UK, 2019
Eleven Accra-based civil society organisations (CSOs) working on social accountability, anti-corruption and governance joined forces in November 2014 to influence the design, implementation and monitoring of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)-backed extended credit arrangement for Ghana (2015–18). Prior to the formation of the Civil Society Platform on the IMF Programme, there had been no citizen initiative specifically dedicated to a serious economic intervention like this in the country.The Platform has been at the forefront of CSOs’ engagement with key stakeholders (i.e.
National Street Vendor Association: Lobbying for a national urban street vendor policy in India
Institute of Development Studies UK, 2019
The National Street Vendor Association (NASVI) in India is an association of Indian street vendor organisations working to protect the rights of vendors across the country through sustainable macro-level policy interventions. Engineered and promoted by NASVI, the Street Vendors (Protection of Livelihood and Regulation of Street Vending) Act was passed by the Parliament of India in 2014. NASVI now works to effectively implement the policy for the welfare of Indian street vendors.
Ghana Civil Society Platform on the IMF Programme
Institute of Development Studies UK, 2020
Eleven Accra-based civil society organisations (CSOs) working on social accountability, anti-corruption and governance joined forces in November 2014 to influence the design, implementation and monitoring of the International Monetary Fund (IMF)backed extended credit arrangement for Ghana (2015–18).Prior to the formation of the Civil Society Platform on the IMF Programme, there had been no citizen initiative specifically dedicated to a serious economic intervention like this in the country. The Civil Society Platform has been at the forefront of CSOs’ engagement with key stakeholders (i.e.
ASMARE: informal waste workers engaging in municipal policy-making
Institute of Development Studies UK, 2020
ASMARE is an association of informal waste workers ( catadores ) in Belo Horizonte, Brazil. Founded in 1990, it was the first step of involving catadores as a part of the city’s waste collection scheme. With ASMARE, the catadores moved from working in the streets with no organisation to semi-formality; able to voice their own demands. The change supported empowerment, improvements in working and living conditions, and greater self-esteem, which became foundations for later developments including a formal role in policymaking and ownership of recycling facilities.
The RSA Citizens’ Economic Council: citizen contributions to policy making highlights 
Institute of Development Studies UK, 2020
The RSA’s Citizen Economic Council was a two-year programme (2016-2018) in which 59 citizens conducted their own enquiry into economic policy in the United Kingdom and worked and deliberated with policymakers to co-create economic policy recommendations.
Jubilee Debt Campaign: civil society voice in global debt governance
Institute of Development Studies UK, 2020
Jubilee 2000 was a highly successful global campaign to bring about debt relief for developing countries, which galvanised activists into a shared global project and brought them into negotiations with creditors. The Jubilee campaign lodged the concept of odious debt in the public consciousness. Its successes proved that debt relief was not only economically and politically feasible, but also could lead to desirable social outcomes. 

Participatory economic alternatives (structures, processes and ownership)

People are not just waiting to be invited into processes led by others. Many of our examples concern participatory economic alternatives where people claim control over economic processes that affect their lives.  They include various forms of collective action (the ‘power with’), such as the work of the Self-Employed Women’s Association (SEWA) in creating a local food system involving marginalised farmers and workers who benefit as both producers and consumers.  They also include alternative forms of worker or consumer-owned enterprises, such as cooperatives, which are owned and managed by people for their own benefit.

In these examples, participation is fostered via democratic, horizontal and decentralised decision-making, including with respect to the rules and structures which underpin the models.  There is a strong emphasis on solidarity, group self-reliance, collective action and greater local wealth circulation, leading to group welfare and shared benefits. 

For example, PEKKA is a self-governing network of associations involving over 29,000 rural widows and abandoned and divorced women in 900 villages across Indonesia. PEKKA supports household livelihoods through savings and borrowing cooperatives and increased economic productivity through group and individual enterprises. PEKKA also promotes political empowerment by providing education on political rights and obligations as citizens; developing the leadership potential of PEKKA cadres in participating in decision-making processes in the community; and facilitating the active participation of PEKKA cadres in political processes in Indonesia.

Other examples include solidarity economy models rooted in alternative forms of exchange, such as the Local Exchange Trading Scheme (LETS) in the Pumarejo neighbourhood of Seville.  Based on an alternative currency, the ‘puma’, this alternative exchange scheme supports collective decision-making, localised consumption and the redeployment of under-utilised skills and competencies. Since no interest is paid on ‘pumas’, the system encourages exchange rather than accumulation and wealth maximisation.

Continue reading: Back to introduction

RECOMMENDED READING:

Participation in economic advancement: The experience of the Brazilian Network of Community Banks (BNCB)
Institute of Development Studies UK, 2020
This case study was designed to investigate how people in poor communities in Brazil are taking action to improve their local economies and how participation is important to achieve that. In a context of economic marginalisation and limited access to infrastructure and public goods, local movements have risen in which residents organise themselves to discuss major community issues and try to find a solution together.
Linking participation with economic advancement: PEKKA case study
Institute of Development Studies UK, 2019
Grass-roots member-owned cooperatives for female heads of households in rural Indonesia (PEKKA) empower the women members through three economic activities: community-based microfinance through savings and borrowing; a closed trading and marketing system, branded as PEKKA Mart; and economic lobbying and advocacy. Fieldwork for the PEKKA cooperative Lodan Do’e on the impacts of these economic activities shows that through their membership of the cooperative, female heads of households were able to increase voice and agency over economic decision-making.
'Empresas recuperadas': Argentina's recovered factory movement
Institute of Development Studies UK, 2019
The ‘empresas recuperadas' or worker-recovered enterprise movement in Argentina emerged as a response to the country's sovereign debt crisis of 2001, with workers fighting for their right to run abandoned factories. Central to the movement is an ethos of solidarity, with worker-owned enterprises based on horizontal authority, collective decision-making and shared returns from the business
PUMA: Solidarity economy in Pumarejo, Spain
Institute of Development Studies UK, 2019
The Community Exchange Scheme in the Pumarejo neighbourhood of Seville is one of many examples of solidarity economies rooted in alternative forms of exchange. Based on an alternative social currency, the Puma, the scheme supports collective decision-making, localised consumption, and the redeployment of under-utilised skills and competencies. Since no interest is paid on 'Pumas', the system encourages exchange rather than accumulation and wealth maximisation.
Shifting economic power dimensions for women in Adonara, Indonesia
Institute of Development Studies UK, 2019
Towering over the small island of Adonara in Indonesia, the Ile Boleng volcano is always present in the background. In the nearby village of Adobala, I listened as female heads of households, dressed in sarungs, talked about how they had organised themselves as a women’s group in the local cooperative ‘Lodan Do’e’. The cheerful women didn’t just use the time to talk, but also to weave and make threads or cook coconut oil.Lodan Do’e is part of the Indonesia-wide PEKKA movement.
PEKKA: women-headed household empowerment
Institute of Development Studies UK, 2020
Grass-roots member-owned cooperatives for female heads of households in rural Indonesia (PEKKA) empower the female members through three economic activities: community-based microfinance through savings and borrowing; a closed trading and marketing system, branded as PEKKA Mart; and economic lobbying and advocacy.Through their membership of the cooperative, female heads of households are increasing their voice and agency over economic decision-making.
Democratising economic power: The potential for meaningful participation in economic governance and decision-making
Institute of Development Studies UK, 2020
Participation is the act of people engaging in decisions that impact their lives. It has been widely promoted in social, political and civic spheres. However, the question of participation in economic governance is underdeveloped. This paper explores participation in economic decision-making – ranging from citizen engagement in economic policy, economic development, or the governance of economic institutions – through an analysis of 28 cases in 14 countries, from both the global South and the global North.
Preston model: Community wealth generation and a local cooperative economy
Institute of Development Studies UK, 2020
After the financial crisis of 2007/8, the city of Preston in Lancashire, UK, lost half of its government grants and nearly a billion pounds (US$1.3 billon) in private investments. In what has become known as the Preston Model , the city responded by creating a community wealth project. In partnership with the Centre for Local Economic Strategies, the project centred on several large anchor institutions (e.g. the local hospital) shifting their procurement practices from external to more local sources.
Up & Go: A platform for fair work and liveable wages
Institute of Development Studies UK, 2020
Up & Go is an online platform which brings together several cooperatively owned cleaning businesses for fair work conditions and liveable wages in a sector usually characterised by informal, precarious, and low-paid work. It is a sharing economy platform owned by its workers. Together they set prices, and 95 percent of the profits go to supporting the cooperatively owned businesses.The remaining 5 per cent is invested in Up & Go for advancing the platform’s technology and providing customer service.
Banco Palmas: Solidarity finance in Conjunto Palmeiras
Institute of Development Studies UK, 2020
Banco Palmas is one of the early examples of solidarity finance. Emerging from a peri-urban slum in Brazil, this initiative is based on three key pillars: small, communitysanctioned loans; a local currency (to keep wealth circulating within the neighbourhood); and professional training (to generate local entrepreneurship and a skilled workforce). Participatory deliberative and decision-making spaces created by Banco Palmas include: the Local Economic Forum, Management Council, and Block Councils.
RUDI multi-trading company: locally-owned agricultural trade network 
Institute of Development Studies UK, 2020
The Rural Urban Distribution Initiative (RUDI) was set up in India in 2004 by the Self Employed Women's Association (SEWA). It is a branded local network for the procurement, marketing, and distribution of agricultural products by rural women and is owned by the small-scale farmers and rural women involved. The network is designed to allow rural capital and good quality food to circulate locally, as well as involving women who work at local processing centres and distribution hubs as ‘RUDIBen', or saleswomen.