As Catalans prepare to head to the polls for an independence referendum on 1 October, co-operatives have issued a social and solidarity economy manifesto.
The vote was classified as illegal by the Spanish government but Catalan separatist leaders intend to go ahead with the referendum. Another informal referendum was help in 2014 when over 80% of people voted in favour of independence.
In the manifesto set out by the Rocagales Foundation (Fundació Roca y Galès), the sector pledges support for independence in the form of a Catalan republic. They argue that the new state would help strengthen democracy, social commitment, collective empowerment and social transformation.
The foundation publishes various co-operative magazines and books and hosts co-operative events across Catalonia.
The nine-point manifesto pleads in favour of independence arguing that the Spanish government’s decision to ban the vote was against co-operative democratic values.
“The reasons that make each one of us opt for independence are, of course, very varied; Now, as people linked to the social and solidarity economy, we share four generic reasons that derive from the essential values of our own entities, which are democracy, social commitment, collective empowerment and social transformation,” reads the manifesto.
The manifesto argues that creating an independent Catalan Republic would enable a process of collective empowerment, which, in turn, could allow the social economy to play a bigger role in building a new economic system.
In 2015 the Catalan election brought to power he Junts pel Sí coalition (JxSí), which had promised to hold the independence referendum. Their manifesto included a commitment to grow the co-operative economy in Catalonia.
