Social Economy

Social Innovation Methods and the Social Economy, 2008-2012

Robin was an early and leading advocate of social innovation. During his time as a Visiting Fellow at both The Young Foundation and Nesta, he set out his understanding of the social economy and articulated its critical role in stimulating and generating social innovation. For Robin, the key questions were how and under what conditions the social economy could secure its place on a par with the private sector and how social innovation could stem the tide of social and environmental issues which neither the state nor the market as currently constituted are able to resolve.

Michael Best and Robin Murray taking part in a pop-up think tank on co-operative innovation for Co-operatives UK at the RSA, London, 2013

Reviewing Co-operation, 2009-2015

Robin had a long-standing interest in the co-operative movement and significant experience of working with co-operatives from at least the mid 1980s when he helped to set up Twin and Twin Trading. Robin’s most significant published work on co-operatives was a highly influential review of the state of co-operative development in the UK for Co-operatives UK. Ed Mayo writes the story of Robin’s role in ‘reviewing co-operation’ in How Things Could Be Done Differently.

Kyoung Hee Kang, So Jung Rim, Robin Murray, Jungwon Kim, Taesoo Lee (L-R)

Robin’s Legacy in South Korea

Jungwon Kim and So Jung Rim reflect on Robin’s contribution to the social innovation movement in South Korea, and in particular the role he played in articulating the role and benefits of the social economy and in organising and facilitating study visits for Korean officials to the UK. He was an especially important advocate for co-operatives and since his first visit to South Korea in 2011, there has been an explosion in the number of Korean co-operatives.

QueenSpark, 1972 - ongoing

Robin was one of the founders and animators of QueenSpark, set up initially to spearhead a local campaign to stop Brighton Council’s proposed development of a Casino in a derelict Regency Spa in the local park. The campaign, which called for a nursery school and was ultimately successful, prompted the creation of the QueenSpark community newspaper. This was published every two months for many years and formed the basis for local community organising around numerous campaigns. It also prompted the creation of QueenSpark Books, part of a nationwide federated movement of worker writers, which continues to publish oral histories of local communities and residents to this day.

Bringing it all back home: Robin Murray and the Hallbankgate Hub, 2014-2016

Janet Lambert talks about Robin’s last project, helping to turn his local village shop in Cumbria, under threat of permanent closure, into a community hub, owned and managed by the community for the community. Robin provided invaluable guidance, ensuring that the spirit and principles of the Rochdale weavers and the Naworth miners would infuse this project, but also that the Hub would be financially viable although nonprofit-making. He delighted in the continuity of thought and ideals from the original cooperative pioneers – this project could not have been closer to his heart and to his roots.