Tired of being ignored by useless politicians?
We are building a new system. One which puts you and the community at the heart of change.
Why do we want change?
Parliamentary politics is failing us.
We have been flagrantly and repeatedly let down and ignored by politicians who claim to represent our views, leaving many of us understandably disenchanted and frustrated. The system is rigged: billionaires continue to profit from the destruction of the environment and from our ever worsening standards of living, and populist leaders edge us closer to fascism by inflaming the divisions between us, and we’re all kept distracted by the illusion of democracy offered by our parliamentary system. It’s no wonder that voter turnouts are falling.
Real democracy requires that all people are truly empowered and engaged in their communities. We need the ability to make decisions and take action on the issues that matter to us, without waiting on an inept and corrupt government to do so.
The alternative we are building inverts the hierarchical structure of the current system: rather than top-down, centralised systems which keep political power in the hands of a wealthy elite, we’re using bottom-up organisational structures, with people’s assemblies at the core. This means that political decisions are made by real people with real problems, rather than politicians with vested interests and predetermined agendas.
People’s assemblies have the added benefit of creating an environment of care, compassion and a collective desire for positive change, combating the polarisation and isolation we’re all facing right now. We’re creating spaces where people can share ideas, disagree constructively, and even change their minds. People’s assemblies provide the chance to build new relationships as we work towards a better world, and we will strengthen bonds in and beyond our communities. As we try new things, we will make mistakes, but we will learn from them.
Who We Are
Cooperation Sheffield is
a radical democracy
…and solidarity economy group building dual power through a network of people’s assemblies and solidarity economy projects. We believe power needs to be in the hands of the people in all aspects of our lives; decisions about our places of work, our neighbourhoods, and our cities should be made by the people who they will affect - i.e. the people who work or live in them!
Cooperation Sheffield is not affiliated with a political party, and does not believe in party politics. We seek to replace the division and alienation of the parliamentary system with constructive and inclusive community discussion through people's assemblies. We exist as a tool for people in Sheffield to set up their own people’s assemblies, and access the skills and resources they need to make the positive changes they want to see in their communities.
We have an ecologically minded outlook and believe we can best take care of the natural world by reconnecting people with their local environments. Environmental issues are best tackled by those in their immediate areas; would our rivers have been poisoned with sewage, or our forests be depleted of their wildlife, if local people made decisions over land rather than multinational corporations?
Our spaces are anti-oppression in all forms. Real democracy requires real listening, and really valuing the different perspectives and backgrounds we each bring. We will not tolerate discriminatory views that harm or offend, and will have agreements in place in our spaces to ensure everyone is respected.
We’ve taken lots of inspiration from past movements, and we’re committed to collaborating with other groups and to the sharing and archiving of resources and skills in order to build the future we want to see. And importantly, we believe we don’t necessarily have to agree on everything in order to work towards a better world together; social and economic revolution will require us to work through our differences, even and especially when it isn’t easy.
