ABSTRACT
I began the research for this book by examining the organizations involved from the outside, largely from the perspective of the limited literature that has emerged in the last ten years to describe them. This literature, however, principally emanates from individuals who are writing to publicize and promote the organizations they describe. Particularly notable in this regard is Shuman’s (1998) book Going Local which, on first reading presents a powerful set of arguments in support of exactly the kinds of localized collective ownership that this book has examined. He bases his arguments, however, on the points of view of the organizations themselves, a problem that hampers not only this smaller literature on localized collective ownership, but also much of the larger literature on community-based development in general. As a result of this bias, the conflicts, contradictions, and limitations of these organizations are often overlooked or downplayed. A similar problem can be found in Williamson, Imbroscio, and Alperovitz (2002) in their discussion of community-based economics-in what is otherwise an excellent book.
