Cooperative challenges : food, credit, democracy and development PDF Download

Author: Jean-François Draperi
Publisher: Editions L'Harmattan
ISBN: 2296076254
Category : Cooperation
Languages : en
Pages : 528

View

Book Description
Très souvent à la pointe de l'innovation et faisant preuve d'une meilleure santé que les sociétés de capitaux avec lesquelles elles sont en concurrence, les coopératives se heurtent à la puissance des régulations internationales qui tantôt les ignorent, tantôt les contrarient. Simultanément, la société civile, largement victime d'un capitalisme financier produisant exclusions sociales, inégalités économiques et désastres écologiques, attend de l'économie sociale - et particulièrement de la coopération - des solutions alternatives. La question qui se pose dès lors est peut-être la suivante: les coopératives sont-elles capables de susciter elles-mêmes des attentes différentes de celles provoquées par l'économie capitaliste? En effet, la transformation des attentes de la population - en termes de normes de production et de consommation, de rapport au crédit, de modèle de développement, de son contrôle et de ses finalités - est sans doute le défi le plus important auquel la société a à faire face aujourd'hui pour éviter une catastrophe écologique et sociale annoncée.

Author: Anne Meis Knupfer
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 0801467713
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 264

View

Book Description
In recent years, American shoppers have become more conscious of their food choices and have increasingly turned to CSAs, farmers' markets, organic foods in supermarkets, and to joining and forming new food co-ops. In fact, food co-ops have been a viable food source, as well as a means of collective and democratic ownership, for nearly 180 years. In Food Co-ops in America, Anne Meis Knupfer examines the economic and democratic ideals of food cooperatives. She shows readers what the histories of food co-ops can tell us about our rights as consumers, how we can practice democracy and community, and how we might do business differently. In the first history of food co-ops in the United States, Knupfer draws on newsletters, correspondence, newspaper coverage, and board meeting minutes, as well as visits to food co-ops around the country, where she listened to managers, board members, workers, and members. What possibilities for change-be they economic, political, environmental or social-might food co-ops offer to their members, communities, and the globalized world? Food co-ops have long advocated for consumer legislation, accurate product labeling, and environmental protection. Food co-ops have many constituents-members, workers, board members, local and even global producers-making the process of collective decision-making complex and often difficult. Even so, food co-ops offer us a viable alternative to corporate capitalism. In recent years, committed co-ops have expanded their social vision to improve access to healthy food for all by helping to establish food co-ops in poorer communities.

Author: Simeon Karafolas
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 3319287842
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 444

View

Book Description
This book offers a comparative analysis of credit cooperative systems across 23 European countries. Cooperative banking has an important place in the financial, economic and social life of most European countries, and while cooperative banks, credit mutuals, credit cooperatives and credit unions share the spirit of cooperation and mutuality, they often have very different features, history and development. The book examines the evolution and current model of each credit cooperative system, its importance for the national and local banking markets, as well as the impact of the financial crisis on cooperative banking, and also presents the sharp contrasts between these systems throughout the EU. It is of significant scientific and practical interest and enables policymakers, practitioners and academics at European and national levels to deepen their understanding of the evolution of the system and its governance.

Author: Janelle Cornwell
Publisher: Levellers Press
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 286

View

Book Description
Building Co-operative Power explores strategies from the Connecticut River Valley as a guide and inspiration for developing a regional co-operative economy based on a vibrant and engaged worker co-op sector. It speaks directly to obstacles and opportunities for making worker co-operatives an increasingly important part of the U.S. economy. The authors relay practical insights on co-op governance, communication, conflict and inter-cooperation. These are highlighted by cautionary tales and sagas of personal transformation. “They explore the problems and triumphs of cooperatives, through practical, yet visionary eyes. … In the course of their exploration, they visit a great variety of co-ops in the Connecticut River Valley region, and discuss their successes and problems unflinchingly. This type of on-the-ground regional thinking is a key to developing cooperative networks that are deep and sustainable.” John Curl, author of For All the People: Uncovering the Hidden History of Cooperation, Cooperative Movements and Communalism in America “Building Cooperative Power is a must read for anyone who wants to take back the economy for people and the planet! … The diversity of cooperatives, the ingenuity of enterprise strategies, and the humane care for self, others and environments showcased in this book is impressive, instructive and visionary.” — J.K. Gibson-Graham, author of The End of Capitalism (as we knew it) and A Postcapitalist Politics “… the behind-the-scenes look into this organizing process they offer here is a valuable and rare resource for organizers and communities engaged in the work of democratizing wealth.” — Gar Alperovitz, author of What Then Must We Do? Democratizing Wealth and Building a Community Sustaining Economy from the Ground Up “A thoughtful, inspiring account of the nitty-gritty process of building a democratic economy from the bottom up. Read it and cooperate!” —Nancy Folbre, author of Greed, Lust and Gender: A History of Economic Ideas

Author: Jos Bijman
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1784719382
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 321

View

Book Description
Agricultural cooperatives and producer organizations are institutional innovations which have the potential to reduce poverty and improve food security. This book presents a raft of international case studies, from developing and transition countries, to analyse the internal and external challenges that these complex organizations face and the solutions that they have developed. The contributors provide an increased understanding of the transformation of traditional community organizations into modern farmer-owned businesses. They cover issues including: the impact on rural development and inclusiveness, the role of social capital, formal versus informal organizations, democratic participation and member relations, and their role in value chains. Students and scholars will find the book’s multidisciplinary approach useful in their research. It will also be of interest to policy-makers seeking to understand the wide diversity of organizational forms and functions. NGOs, donors and governments seeking to support rural developments will benefit from the discussions raised in this book.

Author: Jessica Gordon Nembhard
Publisher: Penn State Press
ISBN: 0271064269
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 325

View

Book Description
In Collective Courage, Jessica Gordon Nembhard chronicles African American cooperative business ownership and its place in the movements for Black civil rights and economic equality. Not since W. E. B. Du Bois’s 1907 Economic Co-operation Among Negro Americans has there been a full-length, nationwide study of African American cooperatives. Collective Courage extends that story into the twenty-first century. Many of the players are well known in the history of the African American experience: Du Bois, A. Philip Randolph and the Ladies' Auxiliary to the Brotherhood of Sleeping Car Porters, Nannie Helen Burroughs, Fannie Lou Hamer, Ella Jo Baker, George Schuyler and the Young Negroes’ Co-operative League, the Nation of Islam, and the Black Panther Party. Adding the cooperative movement to Black history results in a retelling of the African American experience, with an increased understanding of African American collective economic agency and grassroots economic organizing. To tell the story, Gordon Nembhard uses a variety of newspapers, period magazines, and journals; co-ops’ articles of incorporation, minutes from annual meetings, newsletters, budgets, and income statements; and scholarly books, memoirs, and biographies. These sources reveal the achievements and challenges of Black co-ops, collective economic action, and social entrepreneurship. Gordon Nembhard finds that African Americans, as well as other people of color and low-income people, have benefitted greatly from cooperative ownership and democratic economic participation throughout the nation’s history.

Author: Stefano Zamagni
Publisher: Edward Elgar Publishing
ISBN: 1849805660
Category : Social Science
Languages : en
Pages : 117

View

Book Description
'Cooperatives stem from interchanges in day-to-day life; and have the capacity to extend their reach to cover economic exchanges across time and space. They offer a complementary form of relationships to the ones economists typically study and favour. A culmination of years of research, this book quite magnificently explains and persuasively advocates a much neglected institution.' Sir Partha Dasgupta, University of Cambridge, UK This eloquent book analyses the theory of the cooperative form of enterprise from an historic perspective, whilst assessing its appeal in the current economic environment. The authors show that cooperatives are enterprises acting in harmony in the market economy, and explore the following questions: How do cooperatives achieve solidarity in keeping together elements normally considered in conflict? Why is the cooperative enterprise not as widespread as the capitalist enterprise? What is its appeal in the present conditions of crisis of the world economy? Alongside other related issues, the volume also discusses the theoretical foundations of the cooperative enterprise and offers an overview of the historical development of the cooperative movement around the world. Special reference is made to the Italian case, which is scarcely known within the international milieu. Broad in scope whilst concise in elucidation, this book will be invaluable to students enrolled in economic, social, historical and political curricula, as well as leaders of the cooperative movement. People interested in finding a practical alternative to the capitalist form of enterprise will also find this book enriching.

Author: United States. Congress. House. Committee on Banking and Currency
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Banks and banking
Languages : en
Pages : 1514

View

Book Description

Author: Michael Lewis
Publisher: New Society Publishers
ISBN: 0865717079
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 402

View

Book Description
Argues that the economy can only be improved through major changes that will make it more decentralized and cooperative, including such novel ideas as energy self-sufficiency, interest-free financing, affordable housing, local food systems and more. Original.

Author: Piero Ammirato
Publisher: Taylor & Francis
ISBN: 1040004652
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 410

View

Book Description
Cooperative Enterprises is the first textbook to examine the evolution of the cooperative enterprise model and the contribution that cooperatives can make to the economy and society. It provides an accessible overview of the subject, looking at history, cooperative models, theories, legislation, and governance. Cooperative Enterprises takes an international approach throughout, drawing on examples from cooperatives from across the globe. The book offers a valuable historical perspective, placing cooperatives within their political, social, cultural, and economic contexts since the Industrial Revolution. It analyses and compares the cooperative law of 26 jurisdictions and showcases key defining moments for cooperative enterprises, cooperative development models, cooperative‐specific good practice standards, and compares the cooperative model with the private enterprise model, giving readers a comprehensive view of the subject. The book also demonstrates that cooperatives correct the market, complement the role of the state, support local economic development, reduce income and wealth inequalities, promote social cohesion, and promote economic democracy. Students are supported with a range of pedagogical features, including case studies, tables, figures, chapter summaries, and discussion questions to encourage critical thinking. This is the ideal textbook for undergraduate and postgraduate courses on cooperative studies, and will also be an illuminating resource for students, researchers, and policymakers interested in social enterprise, business history, economic history, corporate governance, economic democracy, and community development.