Join us at the James Gallery, CUNY Graduate Center, for a conversation with Bernard E. Harcourt on his book Cooperation: A Political, Economic, and Social Theory (Columbia University Press, 2023), presented in conjunction with the exhibition Press & Pull: Two Decades at the Robert Blackburn Printmaking Workshop.
In his book, Harcourt writes, “Cooperation is pervasive in contemporary economy and society, often hidden in plain sight and unacknowledged. It operates in the shadows of advanced capitalist economies. Its omnipresence demonstrates the possibility and potential of an economic regime based on coöperism.” From consumer co-ops to worker cooperatives, mutual aid networks to nonprofits, Harcourt points to collective models that embody democratic participation, equity, solidarity, and sustainability beyond electoral politics.
Cooperation resonates with the history of the Workshop, with Blackburn’s private art studio and development into an artist-run cooperative from 1953 - 1971, before its incorporation as a nonprofit. Today, as a program of the Elizabeth Foundation for the Arts, it remains the oldest community printshop in the United States.
