“Art of Failure” is the name of a Hamburg association that is committed to “promoting collective management”. The name is meant ironically, because the association is looking for the secrets of functioning collective farms. Sonja Löser is a qualified pedagogue, psychotherapist (HPG) and independent coach. For more than ten years she has been advising voluntary collectives, especially when it comes to setting up a company or in times of crisis.
SZ: What is a collective farm?
Sonja Löser: There is no boss in a collective, everyone has the same amount to say. Decisions are ideally made by consensus. The company belongs to everyone equally. Many collectives also have a transformative claim, they want to be part of another economic system.
Sonja Löser
(Photo: Malzkorn / www.malzkornfoto.de)
Is a standard wage also a criterion?
Yes. Those who do the bookkeeping should earn as much as the cleaning staff. But there are also models of needs-based payment. Then someone receives more for health reasons or because they have many children.
Collectives are hardly widespread in Germany. How does it look elsewhere?
That depends on the political tradition. There is a strong collective movement in the USA from the remnants of the hippie era and the Wobblies, the Industrial Workers of the World. Switzerland too has an old libertarian tradition. In Scandinavia there is a similar trend as in Germany. Young people want to work differently and are starting up collectives again. And one can observe that wherever crises break out and remnants of collective traditions exist, such as in southern Europe, the collective functions again very quickly. Then, for example, the workers take over a company.
Is there something like that in Germany too?
There was the case of a bicycle factory in Nordhausen. When it was due to close in 2007, workers occupied the factory. They continued to produce bicycles for a week. Some caught fire and founded their own cycling collective. Unfortunately it didn’t survive, the market is very difficult.
In which industries are collectives most widespread?
Bars, health food stores, craft shops, bookshops and printers. Almost every copy shop used to be a collective, thanks to the history of the printing industry. We also have many coffee roasters in Hamburg.
There are also taxi drivers, domestic helpers, journalists or daycare centers who work collectively. Can you operate as a collective in any industry?
Generally, yes. But: you need capital and competence. Many banks and landlords do not trust collectives. And when a high level of qualification is required, it does not always go hand in hand with the right political attitude.
What do collectives argue about most often?
Classics are money and commitment. When someone has contributed more money to the start-up, informal power structures emerge. This also happens when only one person has a certain competence.
So would it be better if everyone had the same qualifications?
The important thing is not that everyone can do the same thing, but that everyone can do something important. But everyone should understand the most important numbers. Otherwise they will not be able to make reasoned decisions.
What other tips do you have for people who want to start a collective?
The conversation effort is significantly higher, so you should build a good communication structure. And clarify from the start: How does a person get in and out of the collective? Set goals in an internal agreement and keep talking about them. Also via red lines when the collective should break up. The collective members do not have to be friends, but they should know enough about each other that they can understand the other’s relevant attitudes. Everyone has to reveal something of their own biography. A collective farm only works if there is trust.