By Benjamin Dangl 7/25/05 “Imagine you lost your job and the government closed down the banks, so you couldn’t get out your savings. What would you do?” asks the narrator of the new film, Argentina: Hope in Hard Times. In the case of Argentina’s economic crisis in 2002, the situation brought about a renewal in…
by Benjamin Dangl 3/24/05 Zanon ceramics factory, one of the most prominent of the recuperated, worker-run factories in Argentina, was taken over by workers in 2001 and since then has been economically successful as a cooperative. However, as a major symbol of Argentina’s recuperated factory movement, (over 200 such cooperatives exist in the country), it…
by Benjamin Dangl 3/6/05 “Without micro-credit, poor people would not be able to participate in globalization. The big question that everyone asks is, yes or no to globalization. For me, this isn’t the question. The real question is a good globalization versus a bad globalization.” Such was the perspective of Mohammad Yunus, the Bangladeshi economist…
by Benjamin Dangl 3/6/05 During the economic crisis of 2001, when politicians and banks failed, many Argentines took matters into their own hands. Poverty, homelessness and unemployment were countered with barter systems and grassroots, micro-credit lending programs. Community groups were created to provide solidarity, food and support in neighborhoods across the country. Perhaps the most…
by Benjamin Dangl 2/12/05 Since the economic collapse of the country in 2002, many Argentines have developed their own alternatives to capitalist policies and practices. From barter systems to worker-run factories and businesses, in the face of economic hardship many citizens have taken things into their own hands. The most recent example of this resistance…