The Silent Change: Recovered Businesses in Argentina

by Esteban Magnani

In 2001, the consequences of almost three decades of neoliberalismo made Argentina collapse. Out of the ashes of the ensuing social convulsion arose many different attempts by people to take the future into their own hands. Among them were the workers who started to put bankrupt, abandoned factories to work again in spite of the skepticism of politicians and part of society. Their successful stories surprised those who had expected them to fail and encouraged others to follow their example. In 2003, Esteban Magnani worked for Avi Lewis and Naomi Klein on a documentary on the phenomenon called The Take and wrote a book on recovered factories which is now being reprinted with an update for English speakers.

166 pages, Paperback

First published April 20, 2009

Reviews

[Kobi · Rating 5 out of 5]

Cannot stress enough how good this is.

This is a short, but thorough book on recovered businesses—that is, factories and workplaces that have gone belly up, and through various legal channels and courts, have been reclaimed by the workers. In the early 2000's, a recession caused significant unemployment. Suddenly jobless and with their backs to the walls, some factory workers organized to reclaim the factories and run them as worker-owned and managed businesses. This is a decentralized, grassroots level movement affirming that there are other forms of globalization beyond the dominant neoliberal model of globalization. If you are tired of saying only no, and want to focus your energies toward a hopeful yes—a vision of a future worth working towards—start with this book.


If you don't want to commit to a full book on this subject, "The Take" is the documentary counterpart to this book, and is a great introduction to this subject. In fact, the author of this book was part of the camera crew for the documentary (which was directed by Naomi Klein and Avi Lewis). "The Take" serves as a focused case study on the subject, and this book covers more of the broader history of cooperatives globally and the full scope of factory cooperatives in Argentina's recent history.


Some takeaways from the book:

•Not a product of the intelligensia or a marxist vanguard but rather a product of the necessity of workers to keep their jobs by gaining legal ownership of the factories. Motivated less by ideology and more by need for work

•Businesses are social goods. Not private goods. Bankruptcy laws should liquidate businesses to workers, not creditors or owners. So, change needs to happen at both grassroots level and level of state and federal law. We need to change bankruptcy laws so that factories and businesses that go bankrupt become the property of workers

•This is the real vanguard of economic change—successful examples of abandonded factories that are flipped into worker run businesses. In marxist theory, the vanguard is a small cadre of members of the intelligenstia that push socialism/ communism on behalf of the proletariat, which has led to that vanguard historically taking power and trenchantly and desperately holding onto it—and often betraying the very workers they swore to enact structural and political change on the behalf of (one clear example of that is Nicaragua's Sandinista government and for a well written portrayal of that history, I suggest Blood of Brothers by Stephen Kinzer). Instead, this grassroots change in Argentina offers a more promising vision for what the true catalyst for economic change can be. 


•Sí, se puede. Workers hesitate to take up collective managment of businesses. Reservations and doubts abound. Can we do it? Do we have the know-how? Is business management too specialized and technical to pull off? The answer is a resounding, yes, workers can pull it off. It's hard work and effort, but the myth of technocrats as the necessary leaders of a social hierarchy is busted by these workers' example that with patience, time, effort, and daily experience, the necessary skill and knowledge can be readily learned by everyday folk to successfully run a business together.

•It is especially resonant to read this now as I am working in the peace corps with a coffee cooperative.

•Long story short, fire your boss. Work collectively. Take mate breaks.

In short, a book for the moments you're tempted to yield to apathy and cynicism. A soberly hopeful book that is proof that yes, there is another way. A healthy dose of hard-earned optimism.

One last thing. If you read Naomi Klein's Shock Doctrine, read this after as a kind of hopeful epilogue to that book (Shock Doctrine is a painful look at the harsh consequences of neoliberal policies and Silent Change is a window into one of many possible alternatives going forward)


Quote that jumped out at me: "The workers' commitment to their daily tasks allows them to save up some money and noticeably improve the efficiency of their work, and hence it's profitability. The key variable explaining the success of these businesses, however is the absence of the owner. To put it rather simplistically (and perhaps a bit crudely), the business doesn't need to come up with the money to let the owner buy a new car every year, pay taxes on his country estate, and send his children to private universities. The business becomes more competitive, and finds more possibilities for growth"

[Claire S]

Just watched 'the Take,' awesome work on a really exciting set of happenings: the rebuilding of Argentina by the workers via 'recovered' factories, after its collapse due to globalization. Must read this! This is written by one of the guys on the crew for the film. They taped 200 hours worth of footage. Amazing. Must also truly actually read shock doctrine now. I didn't realize watching the film that it was Naomi Klein, that that was her throughout it all. So, that's that, now.