Learning to swim against the tide: crises and co-operative credibility – some international and historical examples

This chapter is concerned with how co-operatives cope with arguably the greatest threat to staking a claim to the economic mainstream: the crises which emerge from time to time within co-operatives and events which threaten to undermine the credibility of co-operation as a viable economic, business and social model. Its’ main focus is on the recent crisis of The Co-operative Group in Britain and its historical roots since the 1950s, but also draws on the postwar experiences of several European co-operative movements.

G. J. Holyoake (1807–1906): a resource for a journey of hope?

This chapter explores life and ideas of George Jacob Holyoake, one of the leading figures of the British co-operative movement in the nineteenth century. An Owenite socialist and secularist who became well known as the last Briton imprisoned for blasphemy, Holyoake was a powerful orator and journalist on behalf of the developing co-operative movement. The chapter argues that Holyoake’s life and work offer key insights for the present co-operative movement, by offering a set of ideas that offer a moral and social dimension conspicuously absent from the profit-maximising individualism of neoliberal theory and modern capitalism.

Co-operatives and climate protection: housing co-operatives in Germany

This chapter focuses on the role of the co-operative model in promoting environmental protection, focusing on the experience of German housing co-operatives. It offers case studies of three housing co-operatives: Spar-und Bauverein Hannover eG (Hanover); Weiberwirtschaft eG (Berlin) and Möckernkiez eG (Berlin). The chapter argues that co-operatives offer great potential for climate protection activities at the local level, because their democratic structures facilitate participation and solidarity, and should be viewed as potential partners in pursuing environmental change by political, economic, and civil society groups.

Our agencies: persuasion and the value of a concept to mainstreaming co-operation

This chapter investigates the concept of agency as a key tool for mainstreaming co-operative ideas and practices, drawing upon various strands of contemporary anthropology, feminist theory, philosophy, and sociology. The chapter argues that, if co-operatives hope to gather sufficient momentum to challenge neo-liberal orthodoxies, they must develop effective networks of advocates and institutions that can promote co-operative ideas in a co-ordinated, self supporting and coherent way.

What do we really know about workers’ co-operatives?

In the economic literature, worker co-operatives are viewed as small, specialised and undercapitalised organisations that only thrive in unusual conditions and could not possibly constitute a serious alternative to conventional firms. This chapter challenges this conventional wisdom, drawing on a range of international economic studies comparing worker co-operatives and conventional firms. The evidence reviewed suggests that worker co-operatives match ‘mainstream’ firms for durability, and can be found in most industrial sectors. The chapter rejects the notion that worker co-operatives are systemically undercapitalised, and asserts that many are more productive than their mainstream equivalents, largely because of their capacity to motivate workers through their control of the enterprise. It suggests that worker co-operation is a viable alternative to private ownership for small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs), and that in some regions of Italy and Spain, the model is integrated into the economic mainstream.

The re-emergence of the co-operative model for architects

This chapter explores the development of co-operatives, collectives, and employee owned enterprises that provide architectural services in Britain, and the growth of such architectural practices, particularly in periods of economic recession since the 1980s. In the aftermath of the 2008 financial crisis, new architectural co-operatives developed as architects sought to share resources and combat high levels of unemployment and underemployment in the profession. Architects surveyed noted the better work-life balance and flexibility of co-operative practices, and cited the importance of collaboration, transparency, and a sense of shared purpose among the advantages. The author offers insights from his own experience of creating and working in a co-operative architectural practice.

Co-operatives in health care: global prospects for the development of co-operatives as instruments of consumer-centred health care

This chapter argues that consumer co-operatives offer great potential for health care reform that integrates care around the needs of consumers and contains health costs. Two case studies – of the Group Health Cooperative in Seattle and the Yallourn Hospital and Medical Society near Melbourne – provide examples of co-operative provision in the USA and Australia. The author draws on his own experience in co-operative provision of health care, and provides an outline strategy for transitioning to co-operative health care models.

New models of ownership and governance

This chapter explores new organisational forms of co-operative and mutual enterprise that have developed in twenty-first century Britain in the context of public sector reform and the state’s retreat from service provision. It notes the roots of these ‘new mutuals’ in the concepts of co-operation and mutuality developed in the nineteenth century and analyses the ideas, operational practices and organisational structures they use. Citing examples in health care and housing provision, they explore the growth of multi-constituency organisational forms among new mutuals. Finally, the chapter analyses the opportunities and challenges facing such organisations in seeking to mainstream mutuality in public services.

‘The unit of the co-operative movement … is a woman’: gender and the development of the co-operative business model in Britain

This chapter traces the growth of Rochdale model consumer co-operatives in nineteenth and early twentieth century Britain, highlighting the ways in which gender shaped, complicated, and sometimes constrained co-operative development. The chapter explores the gendered division of labour and its impact on the developing movement, which politicised household consumption which was mostly performed by women. Subsequent sections highlight women’s economic importance to the movement as consumers and explore the barriers to women’s participation, arguing that despite the movement’s commitment to gender equality in membership, women’s consumer power did not translate to high levels of female membership and participation in co-operative leadership in this period.

Mainstreaming co-operatives after the global financial crisis

This chapter discusses the mainstreaming of co-operatives against the background of the global financial crisis of 2008. It defines the concept of mainstreaming, examines the ‘debt trap’ which many organisations experienced following the crisis, notes the greater levels of resilience among co-operative and mutual organisations, and proposes an initial framework to monitor the mainstreaming of co-operatives.