The Sovereign Psyche Starts in the Community - Expanding Cooperative Economics and Collective Power

In 2025 we turn our attention towards “Community Engagement and the Grassroots of Change.”
Throughout the year we explore the stories, strategies, and successes of community-driven movements making a difference. Sovereign Psyche Starts in the Community: Expanding Cooperative Economics and Collective Power In this episode we explore the connection between Community Engagement, Cooperative Economics, and Sovereignty through the work of Ezrah Aharone, Adjunct Professor of Political Science at Delaware State University.
Community Engagement & Cooperative Economics: The Bridge to Sovereignty.
We take the position that community engagement and cooperative economics serve as a bridge to sovereignty.
Community Engagement – the intentional process of involving people in collective action to address local issues, shape decisions, and build power through participation, dialogue, and trust. It centers on equity, shared leadership, and long-term capacity-building.
Cooperative Economics – an economic model that emphasizes democratic ownership, shared resources, and mutual benefit.
Sovereignty – “an energizing mindset, consciousness, and thought process by which people define and express freedom through the unique particularities of their political and ideological self-identity.” — Ezrah Aharone
The Sovereign Psyche – challenges people to reject internalized systems of dependency, inferiority, and Western validation.
Community Engagement becomes the first step in building a sovereign psyche because it awakens collective memory and practices shared agency.
Cooperative Economics is sovereignty in action expressed through “institutional capacity and control over destiny.”