Prefigurative Community Building (Part 42)

Solidarity Economy Convergences: Building Collective Power Across Sectors

Movements don’t thrive in isolation. They might survive for a time, and even win battles here or there, but to endure, to shift the balance of power toward justice, they must interconnect. Across the world, countless groups are already laying the groundwork: worker co-ops transforming ownership models, mutual aid pods redistributing care, landback campaigns returning stolen land, and food sovereignty networks re-localizing sustenance. Each effort pushes against extractive systems. Each one addresses a fragment of the meta-crisis. But too often, these groups operate in silos. They are isolated by geography, by sector, or by the pressures of survival. And so the transformation remains partial. That’s where a convergence comes in, not to homogenize or consolidate, but to cross-pollinate.

A Solidarity Economy Convergence is a space where differences are not obstacles, but offerings. It brings together the mosaic of movements, those with soil under their nails, spreadsheets on their screens, banners in their hands, and stories on their tongues. The goal is not to manage these movements under a single umbrella, but to build relational infrastructure across them. Convergences create containers for shared learning, inter-strategic support, and the emergence of federated potential. When we come together across sectors, we don’t just coordinate logistics. We amplify visions. We surface alignments. We witness each other’s courage and clarify our collective needs. We start to move, not in parallel, but in constellation.

These are not conferences. There are no corporate sponsors, no panels of experts behind microphones, and no glossy handouts full of vague resolutions. Solidarity Economy Convergences are rooted in principles of Power With. They prioritize shared autonomy, reciprocity, and trust. Everyone is a contributor, and everyone is a learner. Power Over dynamics are consciously excluded. There’s no institutional gatekeeping, no reliance on celebrity organizers, and no extraction of labor or ideas. This isn’t a show. It’s a gathering of equals. The intent is simple: to create conditions where we can meet (eye to eye, hand to hand, heart to heart) and practice the world we’re trying to build. Not just for a weekend, but as a rehearsal for the new systems we must grow together.

Step-by-Step Guide: Hosting a Solidarity Economy Convergence

1. Gather a Core Team of Conveners

Start with a small group, people already embedded in different parts of the solidarity economy. Ideally, this team represents multiple sectors: housing co-ops, mutual aid pods, food sovereignty projects, worker collectives, BIPOC land stewards, disability justice organizers. Everyone should be there not to lead, but to hold space and invite others in.

Hold a series of meetings to define shared purpose. Why now? What needs to be strengthened? What gaps exist between sectors? Keep decisions transparent. Rotate facilitation. Avoid centralizing labor; distribute it with care.

Resource: The Art of Convening – a relational guide for hosting inclusive and generative spaces.

2. Identify Intentional Principles of Gathering

Set clear values before logistics. Some examples might include:

• Accessibility and care at the center

• No institutional sponsorships that demand control

• Prioritizing BIPOC-led and disability-centered participation

• Gift economies and mutual aid, not vendor booths

These principles shape everything else. Document them. Share them. Return to them whenever decisions get murky.

Resource: Allied Media Conference’s Principles – an excellent model for inclusive, anti-oppressive convening.

3. Map the Landscape and Extend Invitations

Use resource mapping methods to identify active projects in your region. Don’t just invite organizations, reach out to informal networks, Indigenous knowledge keepers, youth coalitions, harm reductionists, and street medics. The goal is a mosaic, not a monoculture.

Extend personal invitations. Avoid “open calls” as the only method, they tend to privilege groups with more capacity or visibility. Make time for one-on-one outreach.

Resource: Solidarity Economy Principles – US Solidarity Economy Network – helps frame the scope of who to include and how.

4. Choose a Format That Reflects Shared Power

Design the convergence with decentralization in mind. Think circles, not stages. You might try:

• Skillshares and storytelling tents

• Open space forums for spontaneous sessions

• Affinity group roundtables

• Ceremony and cultural expression

• Collective meals and rest zones

Ensure accessibility throughout: mobility aids, ASL, multilingual support, quiet spaces, childcare. Embed feedback loops into the format, people should be able to shift the schedule, start breakout groups, or bring emergent needs forward.

Resource: The People’s Movement Assembly Toolkit – an excellent, step-by-step guide for designing participatory gatherings.

5. Create Interweaving Opportunities

Build intentional sessions where different sectors can find each other. For example:

• “Where mutual aid meets co-ops”

• “Land-based resistance and worker ownership”

• “Disability justice and economic liberation”

Use prompts that draw connections. Ask groups to map overlaps. Don’t force alignment, let resonance emerge.

Keep physical space open for zines, flyers, and project boards. Provide contact lists or post-convergence communication channels so people can continue building together.

Resource: Beautiful Solutions – a library of practices and case studies to spark connection across projects.

6. Fund with Reciprocity, Not Scarcity

Budget transparently. Invite donations or sliding scale registration, but never exclude participation based on money. Seek local support where possible. Consider mutual aid pools to cover transport, lodging, or stipends for under-resourced participants.

If grants are needed, do not allow them to dictate agenda or limit representation. Every financial decision should align with your initial principles.

Resource: Resource Generation – a network for redistributing wealth to grassroots movements in line with justice values.

7. Archive and Propagate

After the convergence, compile learnings, stories, and contact networks with consent. Create a public zine or reportback, not for funders or institutions, but for the people who showed up and want to bring it home.

Avoid scaling up the convergence. Instead, encourage replication. Offer your structure, values, and materials as a commons so others can host their own, rooted in local needs and voices.

Resource: The Zine Library at Interference Archive – a great model for documenting grassroots gatherings.

Examples of Existing Projects

1. Cooperation Humboldt – California, USA

Cooperation Humboldt has organized regional gatherings bringing together housing co-ops, food justice groups, Indigenous land projects, artists, and educators. These convergences prioritize accessibility, relationship-building, and non-extractive knowledge sharing.

Learn more:

https://cooperationhumboldt.com

2. RIPESS Intercontinental Solidarity Economy Forum

RIPESS (the Intercontinental Network for the Promotion of Social Solidarity Economy) organizes multi-sectoral, participatory forums that center co-ops, agroecology, feminist economies, and popular education networks. They model federated, Power With gatherings rooted in diverse regions and languages.

Learn more:

https://www.ripess.org

Conclusion: Weaving the Future, Not Scaling It

A Solidarity Economy Convergence is not a conference. It’s not a brand. It’s not another program to scale or product to promote. It’s a living, breathing space, intentionally created to hold the richness of divergent struggles and the wisdom of many traditions. It is where movements, long walking their paths alone, find one another in the open field. It is where mutual recognition replaces isolation. Where strategy is shared like a meal, not guarded like a weapon. When we sit in circles sharing food, stories, grief, and laughter, we are doing more than convening. We are creating new social infrastructure. One rooted in slowness, in care, in the humble work of showing up and staying present.

What emerges from a convergence doesn’t always look like a plan. Sometimes it’s a friendship, a shared ritual, or an idea that germinates months later. That’s the point. These gatherings are not designed to grow vertically into organizations or institutions. That’s the logic we are trying to interrupt. Instead, they ripple outward, each one sparking others, not through replication of structure, but through resonance of spirit. The form doesn’t matter as much as the intention. One group might host a weekend in a city park. Another might organize a months-long traveling caravan. What ties them together is not uniformity, but coherence: a shared commitment to autonomy, mutuality, and collective power.

This is how we grow Power With. Not by scaling, but by seeding. Not by commanding, but by inviting. Not by claiming territory, but by weaving threads. A convergence is both practice and metaphor. It is a rehearsal for the kinds of federated, relational systems we must now build at the edge of the old world. And it begins with something very small: a meal shared, a circle formed, a hand extended in care.

We build the future in circles. So let’s gather. Let’s meet under open sky. Let’s braid our futures together, not perfectly, and not all at once, but deliberately, with tenderness and trust. The weave is already in motion. All we have to do is join it.