The Longo Maï Co-operatives are a network of

agricultural co-operatives An agricultural cooperative, also known as a farmers' co-op, is a cooperative in which farmers pool their resources in certain areas of activity. A broad typology of agricultural cooperatives distinguishes between agricultural service cooperati ...

with an anti-capitalist ideological focus. Founded in 1973 in

Limans Limans is a Communes of France, commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence Departments of France, department in southeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department References

Communes of Alpe ...

, France, the network has spread in Europe and to Central America.

History

Following the events of

May 68 Beginning in May 1968, a period of civil unrest occurred throughout France, lasting some seven weeks and punctuated by demonstrations, general strikes, as well as the occupation of universities and factories. At the height of events, which h ...

groups of students from Austria and Switzerland who held anarchist ideologies collaborated to raise funds to allow them to buy land upon which to start to farm collectively. In 1973 they purchased 270 hectares of land at Limans near

Forcalquier Forcalquier (; oc, Forcauquier, ) is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. Forcalquier is located between the Lure and Luberon mountain ranges, about south of Sisteron and west of the Durance river. D ...

. The communitie's ideological leader was Roland Perrot, a military deserter from the war in Algeria. Perrot knew

Jean Giono Jean Giono (30 March 1895 – 8 October 1970) was a French writer who wrote works of fiction mostly set in the Provence region of France. First period Jean Giono was born to a family of modest means, his father a cobbler of Piedmontese descent a ...

and had experienced the free commune in Contadour in the 1930s. The ideological focus of the community is anti-militarist and pacifist, anti-capitalist and egalitarian. Activities focus upon self-sufficiency, community life, craft and agricultural production, the joint management of energy, water and respect for the environment. Longo Maï has been involved with various international solidarity efforts with a particular focus on resistance against dictatorships.

Facilities

The ten Longo Mai co-operatives operate in a network: * In France: ** Limans ** Briançon,

Saint-Chaffrey Saint-Chaffrey (; oc, Sant Chafrei) is a Communes of France, commune in the Hautes-Alpes Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region in Southeastern France. In 2018, it had a population of 1,567. ...

(

Hautes-Alpes Hautes-Alpes (; oc, Auts Aups; en, Upper Alps) is a department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region of Southeastern France. It is located in the heart of the French Alps, after which it is named. Hautes-Alpes had a population of 141,220 ...

) which processes 12 to 15 tons of wool a year ** Mas de Granier, the village of Caphan at

Saint-Martin-de-Crau Saint-Martin-de-Crau (; Provençal: ''Sant Martin de Crau'') is a commune in the Bouches-du-Rhône department in southern France. Inhabitants are called ''Saint-Martinois''. Population Saint-Martin-de-Crau has the lowest population density o ...

( Bouches-du-Rhone); ** Treyne, Chanéac, Upper Ardèche (twenty adults and twelve children in 1999) ** Cabrery, wine and olive trees * In other countries: ** Ulenkrug,

Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; nds, label= Low German, Mękel(n)borg ) is a historical region in northern Germany comprising the western and larger part of the federal-state Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania. The largest cities of the region are Rostock, Schweri ...

, Germany; ** Hof Stopar Eisenkappel in Carinthia, Austria (17 hectares plus 25 hectares leased, breeding sheep) ** Montois farm in the

Swiss Jura Swiss may refer to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland * Swiss people Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina *Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses *Swiss-system tournament, in various games and sports *Swiss Internatio ...

(12 ha geese and sheep) ** Uzhgorod,

Transcarpathia Transcarpathia may refer to: Place * relative term, designating any region beyond the Carpathians (lat. ''trans-'' / beyond, over), depending on a point of observation * Romanian Transcarpathia, designation for Romanian regions on the inner or ...

, Ukraine, with a French school in the 1990s ** Finca Sonador in Costa Rica The head office of the cooperative is in Basel, from which are organised campaigns to collect donations (about five million francs a year in the 1990s). 30 ans publics de radio zinzine

The cooperative also has media operations * Radio Free Radio Zinzine: Founded in 1981 and named after the hill in Limans on which the community was founded. It is affiliated to the European Federation of Free Radio * a news agency, l'Agence Indépendante d'information (AIM), which has a hundred contributing journalists * le journal Archipel, Journal of the European Civic Forum * It also publishes some books.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Longo Mai Agricultural cooperatives Agriculture in society Cooperatives in Switzerland Agriculture companies of France Cooperatives in France Companies based in Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur