Our history, mission, and vision

History, mission, and vision of Sutty Worker Cooperative

Activist organizations and collectives often have a tense relationship with technology. On one hand, there is a sense of having to work with “what we have”, with “those who know”. That is, not exactly what is needed and relaying power to “the experts”.

On the other hand, there are technologies that become fashionable and then fall into disuse, and “experts” who are no longer there when you need them, leaving us adrift amongst terms of service, misleading business practices, sudden loss of data, crashes and infections due to lack of proper maintenance…

All this causes stress and the feeling of impending disaster, when what the organization wants to focus on is meeting its objectives, always running against the clock. Worst of all: it leaves many out in the cold, especially those who struggle on a daily basis, between care tasks, integral health and difficulty making ends meet, not to mention those who continue to fight under threat and put out the fires that are burning our planet!

As activists for free software, access to information and knowledge, human rights, LGBTTQIANB+, communication and environmental rights, we have been accompanying collectives and organizations with a perspective of technological appropriation, integral care and participatory and community development. To no longer fear technology, we must be able to understand, incorporate and develop them from our perspectives and political and cultural contexts.

For us, this is being able to build a different and kinder relationship with technology, one which produces calm, care and the possibility to focus on the work that matters to us.

Mission

To develop free and resilient technologies to support people, communities and their advocates in their struggles for the right to communicate and live a dignified and fulfilling life, on a planet without environmental threats.

Vision

A life in harmony with the planet and all its beings, with justice, free of oppression, in which people and communities can develop integrally with the help of sustainable technologies and free from concentrated powers.

Values

  • Cooperativism

  • Collaborative/participatory work

  • Celebration of diversity

  • Labor inclusion

  • Free technologies tailored to their user communities

  • Self-defense and resilience

  • Collective care

  • Community-participatory construction

  • DisCO (Distributed Cooperative Organizations) principles and values