Podcast: Wayne Ellwood on co-ops

This is an episode in the Radio NI podcast series, which features regular interviews with contributors to New Internationalist's magazine and books. You can subscribe to this podcast for free in iTunes, or via the RSS feed, or by visiting the Radio NI blog to check for new interviews. To listen, click the play symbol below, or download the MP3.

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Around the world more than a billion people are involved in co-operatives – as members, customers, employees or worker/owners. Co-ops employ 100 million people worldwide – considerably more than multinational corporations – but they do it in a way that is sustainable, ethical, and democratic. This month's New Internationalist magazine celebrates the UN Year of co-operatives.

In this podcast, New Internationalist co-editor Wayne Ellwood discusses why co-ops present such a compelling alternative to the crisis in growth and the global economic slump. He lists some beautiful examples of how co-ops are making the world a better place, empowering people to take control of their own affairs, and keeping profits in the community. He also gives an insiders' view of the workings of one co-operative that most of our listeners will be familiar with – New Internationalist itself!