Report Launch: Worker-Owned Platforms and Intersectionality in Brazil and Argentina

The Worker-Owned Intersectional Platforms (WOIP) team is pleased to announce the launch of the action-research report Worker-Owned Platforms and Intersectionality: Shared Learnings between Brazil and Argentina. Resulting from the WOIP project, this document shares insights on alternatives to dominant models of technology and labour, proposing pathways toward more just and solidarity-based digital futures grounded in concrete Latin American experiences.

The report presents the outcomes of a collaboration between six self-managed organizations from Brazil and Argentina, active in the technology and delivery sectors. Aimed at reflecting on, imagining, and collectively building principles and practices for worker-owned platforms, the research adopts intersectionality as both a starting point and a destination, weaving together gender, race, class, and territory.

Latin American Perspectives: Participating Organizations

The research generated rich collective learning by bringing together organizations from two countries—Brazil and Argentina—and two distinct sectors: technology and delivery. One of the project’s main strengths lies in the diversity of its co-researcher organizations and their institutional arrangements:

• Argentina: ALT Cooperativa, Cooperativa Central, and the Argentine Federation of Tech Co-ops (FACTTIC), represented by the cooperatives Código Libre and Animus.
• Brazil: MariaLab, Señoritas Courier, and the Tech Sector of the Homeless Workers’ Movement (MTST).

Through participatory methods, including online and in-person meetings in São Paulo and Buenos Aires, the project created a space for dialogue where all participants acted as co-researchers in a collective decision-making process.

Key Learnings: Care, Cooperation, and Technopolitical Imagination

Anchored in the rich Latin American traditions of solidarity economy and community technologies, the WOIP research highlights essential lessons for building fairer technological ecosystems:

• Confronting the capital–life conflict: prioritizing life and dignity over profit.
• Care before code: guiding tech development by recognizing vulnerabilities, territories, and bodies.
• Overcoming binaries: rejecting false choices and embracing complexity to build more plural organizations.
• Articulation and communication: strengthening cooperation between collectives, as exemplified by the Hire a Coop campaign, which encourages universities to contract cooperatives.

Key Concepts for Imagining, Working, Coding Otherwise

Drawing on their practices, each organization developed fundamental concepts that challenge Silicon Valley models:

• Autonomy (MariaLab)
• Digital inclusion (Central)
• Intercooperation (FACTTIC)
• Popular digital sovereignty (MTST)
• Social technology (Señoritas Courier)
• Trans technologies (ALT)

Recommendations and Next Steps

The WOIP project points to a future research and action agenda, with challenges such as deepening debates on autonomy and sovereignty, strengthening data governance, and addressing economic sustainability. The document concludes with recommendations for self-managed organizations, policymakers, and universities.

The report is available in Portuguese, Spanish, and English.

Credits

The report and the action-research project Worker-Owned Intersectional Platforms (WOIP) are the result of collective and collaborative work involving many organizations and individuals.

Authorship

The report is collectively authored and signed by:

• Organizations: ALT Cooperativa, Cooperativa de Cadetes Central, FACTTIC, MariaLab, Tech Sector of MTST, Señoritas Courier, Animus, and Código Libre.
• Individuals: Rafael Grohmann, Fabiana Benedito, Alexandre Boava, Alexandre Costa Barbosa, Aline Os, Ana María Martínez, Cecilia Muñoz Cancela, Elena Ficher, Giovanna Freire, Jacira Sousa, Joaquim Renato Alves, Laura Arcuri, Luana Cuello, Maraiza Adami Pereira, Natália Petrica, and Patricia Morimoto Minamizawa.

Project Team

• Participating Organizations:
  • Argentina: ALT Cooperativa, Cooperativa Central, and FACTTIC (represented by the cooperatives Código Libre and Animus).
  • Brazil: MariaLab, Señoritas Courier, and the Tech Sector of the Homeless Workers’ Movement (MTST).
• University of Toronto Team: Rafael Grohmann, Fabiana Benedito, Kaushar Mahetaji, and Mayara Almeida de Paula.
• Advisory Board: Roseli Figaro (University of São Paulo), Denise Kasparian (University of Buenos Aires), and David Nieborg (University of Toronto).

Design

The report design was developed by ALT Cooperativa.

Funding

The research was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council (SSHRC) of Canada through an Insight Development Grant, and by the Connaught New Researcher Award, University of Toronto.

Download the Report

The report is available in Portuguese, Spanish, and English.