The Longo Maï Co-operatives are a network of agricultural co-operatives with an

anti-capitalist Anti-capitalism is a political ideology and Political movement, movement encompassing a variety of attitudes and ideas that oppose capitalism. Anti-capitalists seek to combat the worst effects of capitalism and to eventually replace capitalism ...

ideological focus. Founded in 1973 in

Limans Limans is a commune in the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department in southeastern France. Population See also *Communes of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence department The following is a list of the 198 communes of the Alpes-de-Haute-Provence d ...

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

History

Following the events of

May 68 May 68 () was a period of widespread protests, strikes, and civil unrest in France that began in May 1968 and became one of the most significant social uprisings in modern European history. Initially sparked by student demonstrations agains ...

, groups of students from Austria and Switzerland who held

anarchist Anarchism is a political philosophy and Political movement, movement that seeks to abolish all institutions that perpetuate authority, coercion, or Social hierarchy, hierarchy, primarily targeting the state (polity), state and capitalism. A ...

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

. The community'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,

pacifist Pacifism is the opposition to war or violence. The word ''pacifism'' was coined by the French peace campaigner Émile Arnaud and adopted by other peace activists at the tenth Universal Peace Congress in Glasgow in 1901. A related term is ''a ...

, 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 (; ) is an alpine commune in the Hautes-Alpes department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur region in Southeastern France. Saint-Chaffrey is located in the Valley of the Guisane, on the road to Grenoble, between La Salle-les-Alpe ...

(

Hautes-Alpes Hautes-Alpes (; ; ) is a Departments of France, department in the Provence-Alpes-Côte d'Azur Regions of France, region of Southeastern France. It is located in the heart of the French Alps, after which it is named. Hautes-Alpes had a population ...

) 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 ...

( Bouches-du-Rhone); ** Treyne, Chanéac, Upper

Ardèche Ardèche (; , ; ) is a Departments of France, department in Auvergne-Rhône-Alpes, Southeastern France. It is named after the river Ardèche (river), Ardèche and had a population of 328,278 as of 2019.Mecklenburg Mecklenburg (; ) 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, Schwerin, Neubrandenburg, Wismar and Güstrow. ...

, Germany; ** Hof Stopar Eisenkappel in

Carinthia Carinthia ( ; ; ) is the southernmost and least densely populated States of Austria, Austrian state, in the Eastern Alps, and is noted for its mountains and lakes. The Lake Wolayer is a mountain lake on the Carinthian side of the Carnic Main ...

, Austria (17 hectares plus 25 hectares leased, breeding sheep) ** Montois farm in the

Swiss Jura Swiss most commonly refers to: * the adjectival form of Switzerland *Swiss people Swiss may also refer to: Places * Swiss, Missouri * Swiss, North Carolina * Swiss, West Virginia * Swiss, Wisconsin Other uses * Swiss Café, an old café located ...

(12 ha geese and sheep) **

Uzhgorod Uzhhorod (, ; , ; , ) is a city and municipality on the Uzh River in western Ukraine, at the border with Slovakia and near the border with Hungary. The city is approximately equidistant from the Baltic, the Adriatic and the Black Sea (650– ...

Transcarpathia Transcarpathia (, ) is a historical region on the border between Central and Eastern Europe, mostly located in western Ukraine's Zakarpattia Oblast. From the Hungarian Hungarian conquest of the Carpathian Basin, conquest of the Carpathian Basin ...

, Ukraine, with a French school in the 1990s ** Finca Sonador in

Costa Rica Costa Rica, officially the Republic of Costa Rica, is a country in Central America. It borders Nicaragua to the north, the Caribbean Sea to the northeast, Panama to the southeast, and the Pacific Ocean to the southwest, as well as Maritime bo ...

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 * : A 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