Digital technologies have the potential to transform how we work together and make decisions collectively. For cooperatives, these technologies offer exciting possibilities to deepen democratic practices and engage members in new ways. But with so many tools and approaches available, it can be challenging to know where to start.
Democratic Tech for Coops is a research initiative based at Cardiff Business School that explores how platform and digital cooperatives across the UK are using technology to enhance their democratic practices. Through interviews with cooperative members and extensive research into democratic innovations worldwide, we’re mapping out the landscape of technologically-enhanced organizational democracy.
Our goal is to help both existing and emerging cooperatives identify democratic structures and practices that suit their unique purposes and communities. We’re particularly interested in how digital tools can support more inclusive and participatory forms of decision-making.
This project is led by Dr Genevieve Shanahan at Cardiff Business School. If you’d like to learn more about the research or discuss your cooperative’s democratic practices, please email ShanahanG@cardiff.ac.uk
