Introduction to Platform Cooperatives

Here is version 0.4 of the Introduction to Platform Cooperatives Syllabus.

If you have any questions, comments, improvements, or want to use the syllabus, please send an email to [email protected].

Lesson 1: Cooperative History and Enterprise Model

Cooperatives are people-centred enterprises owned, controlled and run by and for their members to realise their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations.

This lesson will go over: 

1. the cooperative enterprise model and what makes it different from nonprofits and for-profits, 

2. the history of the modern cooperative movement,

3. the cooperative identity and the cooperative values and principles,

4. examples of cooperatives

Required Readings

• Introduction to Platform Cooperativism Mini-course Part 1, Cooperatives Section, by Charles Adjovu

• Cooperatives 101 by Courtney Berner & Margaret Bau

• Differences Between Cooperatives and Other Enterprises by NCBA CLUSA

• Cooperative identity, values & principles

• Rochdale Pioneers & Early Cooperation

• 11 Companies You Didn’t Know Were Co-ops by Sara Horowitz

• Types of Co-ops

Optional Readings

• What are Cooperatives?

• Understanding Cooperatives: The Structure of Cooperatives by United States Department of Agriculture Rural Development

• The Cooperative Model

• For-Profit and Not-for-Profit Co-operatives

Lesson 2: Dynamics of Multi-sided Markets (i.e., Platforms)

Platforms, especially digital platforms, have changed how we interact and conduct commerce online.

This lesson will go over:

1. Describing the platform business model and key terminology

2. Describing network effects

Required Readings

• Master Class: Platform Business Models by Professor Jochen Wirtz

• The Network Effects Bible

• The Network Effects Manual: 13 Different Network Effects (and counting)

• Platform vs. Linear: Business Models 101 by Nicholas L. Johnson

• Platform Business Model explained…in under 100 words

• Introduction to Platform Cooperativism Mini-course Part 1, Platforms Section, by Charles Adjovu

Lesson 3: Drivers of Platform Cooperativism

Platform cooperativism is driven by many different drivers, primarily centering on digital labor issues.

This lesson will go over:

1. Labor issues concerning online platforms and the gig economy

2. Digital rights and free speech concerns

3. Loss of confidence in institutions

4. Deterioration of collective bargaining power in the USA

5. The rise of venture capital in public markets

Required Readings

• Work in the Planetary Labour Market: Fairwork Cloudwork Ratings 2021 by Fairwork, , pages 5-10 & 22-26

• Rethinking Microwork: the Invisble Labour of the Platform Economy by Phil Jones

• Regulate the web: Free expression, harmful speech, and the future of the internet by Stephanie Rieger

• The enormous impact of eroded collective bargaining on wages by Lawrence Mishal

• WeWork proves that (venture) capitalism works by Danny Critchon

• Americans' Confidence in Major U.S. Institutions Dips by MEGAN BRENAN

• Gwarosa: Working to Death in South Korea | Foreign Correspondent by Australian Broadcasting Channel (ABC) News

• Why Uber Drivers Are Fighting For Their Data by Sara Holder

• The creator economy is in crisis. Now let’s fix it. by Li Jin

Optional Readings

• Uber drivers sue for data on secret profiling and automated decision-making by Paul Sawers

• China’s Gig Workers Are Challenging Their Algorithmic Bosses

• Epic Games v. Apple: A Case Summary by Natalia Moreno Belloso

• Venture Capital is Like Skinny Jeans (Or Why We Need a New Language for Capital) by Rob Tashima and Astrid Scholz

Lesson 4: Enter Platform Cooperativism

Platform cooperativism is a movement to reimagine digital spaces by embracing cooperativism and the use of more equitable enterprises such as cooperatives.

This lesson will go over:

1. The manifesto driving platform cooperativism

2. How platform cooperatives differ from existing platforms

3. The case for platform cooperatives

Required Readings

• Platform Cooperativism vs. the Sharing Economy by Trebor Scholz

• The Case For Platform Cooperatives in Digital Media by Richard Shannon

• Investor Owned vs. User Owned Platforms

• Twitter users are trying to buy Twitter by Jared Spears

• Zebras Fix What Unicorns Break by Jennifer Brandel, Mara Zepeda, Astrid Scholz and Aniyia Williams

Optional Readings

• Ours to hack and to own by Nathan Schneider

Lesson 5: Platform Cooperative Examples, Types, Major Organizations

Platform cooperativism is a young movement, so examples and imaganieres are still being developed.

In this lesson, you will find out about the current state of platform cooperativism.

This lesson will go over:

1. The current state of platform cooperativism

2. The types of platform cooperatives

Required Readings

• CoopTech: Platform cooperativism as the engine of solidary growth by Jan J. Zygmuntowski & Anna Burnicka, pages 9-19

• Platform and Data Co-Operatives amidst European Pandemic Citizenship by Igor Calzada, Section 3.2. Taxonomy for Platform and Data Co-operatives

• A Shareable Explainer: What is a Platform Co-op? by Mai Sutton

• Owning Is the New Sharing by Nathan Schneider

• Reclaiming Work: The Cycle Couriers Subverting The Gig Economy by Novara Media

Optional Readings

• Platform Socialism: How to Reclaim our Digital Future from Big Tech by James Muldoon

Lesson 6: Entrepreneurship Struggles and Opportunities

Platform cooperativism imagines a newly transformed web that benefits people over profits, but to make these imaginaries a reality, platform cooperatives as an enterprise need to be viable.

This lesson goes over:

• building a cooperative start-up

• the benefits and drawbacks of the cooperative enterprise form

• how the profit motive affects how cooperatives seek to achieve their mission

Required Readings

• How to start a cooperative by Austin Robey

• Sharing Like We Mean It: Working Co-operatively in the Cultural and Tech Sectors by Greig de Peuter, Bianca C. Dreyer, Marisol Sandoval, Aleksandra Szaflarska

• Starting A Cooperative Platform: 10 Questions We Answered

• Strange Futures—Austin Robey & Danny Spitzberg by Willa Köerner

• The Slow Demise of Loconomics by Danny Spitzberg

• Employee Ownership Still Rarely Taught in Business Schools by Adria Scharf

• How to fundraise for a cooperative startup by Alissa Orlando

• Episode 006 - Worker Ownership and the future of the “Gig Economy” with Jason Prado of the Driver’s Cooperative by The Ownership Economy

• Episode 014 - Patient-Owned and Aligned Healthcare Platforms with Dr. Jen Horonjeff by The Ownership Economy

Optional Readings

• HOW TO LAUNCH A FOOD DELIVERY CO-OPERATIVE by Phil Jones, James Muldoon & Julian Siravo

Optional Courses

• Platform Co-ops Now

• Lean Co-op by Start.coop

Optional Tools

• Venturely by Business Model Design Lab

Lesson 7: Related ideas

From platform cooperativism, new related ideas have emerged that are also seeking to inject cooperativism and similar principles to the web.

In this lesson, you will learn about:

• Exit to Community

• Open Cooperativism

• The Ownership Economy

Required Readings

• From Platform to Open Cooperativism by Ann Marie Utratel

• The Ownership Economy by Jesse Walden

• Exit to Community by Nathan Schneider

Optional Readings

• From Platform Coops to Exit to Community— with Nathan Schneider by Boundaryless