Towards a Global History of the Consumer Co-operative Movement

Revue Internationale de l´economie sociale


Towards a Global History of the Consumer Co-operative Movement
(until 1st September)

The aim of the project is to produce a comparative survey of the history of the consumer co-operative movement, from the nineteenth century onwards, in all regions of the world. This will take the form of an anthology, to be written in English and edited by the project leaders, which will include chapter-length surveys of co-operative history in as many regions and countries as possible, together with thematic analyses of the transnational connections, processes and entanglements which have shaped co-operative history throughout the world. Combined with statistical information and bibliographies, the anthology is intended above all to create a resource for future studies on the co-operative movement.

The work will be produced to the highest scholarly standards by professional historians, but we will also use other forms to disseminate the results of the project to a wider audience, including co-operative activists. The project builds upon important earlier studies in this field, including for example the work of Johnstone Birchall, and the anthologies edited by Brazda and Schediwy (1989) and Furlough and Strikwerda (1999) but it is nonetheless still the case that consumer co-operation has been surprisingly neglected by economic and social historians.

The project is concerned primarily with consumer co-operatives, many of which though by no means all state their adherence to the principles of the so-called Rochdale model (based on the eponymous co-operative society founded in northern England in 1844). Many consumer co-operatives are concerned with retailing, but it will also be necessary to consider consumer co-operation in other fields, e.g. energy, healthcare, social services including care for the elderly etc. Other forms of co-operative organisation will be considered where necessary in relation to consumer co-operation, including for example producer co-operation (especially where co-operative production was run as part of co-operative wholesale federations serving consumer societies), agricultural co-operation and credit co-operation.

By presenting a global perspective on a truly global movement, the project also attempts to move beyond the Euro-centric perspectives that continue to dominate much trans-national historical research, and thus contribute to the growing interest in globalised history. The aim of the project is to understand consumer co-operatives as a global phenomenon, and it thus requires a careful consideration of methodology. We seek to understand why consumer co-operation existed all over the world, but at the same time it is important to avoid over-emphasising entanglements, and adopting a euro-centrist or neo-colonialist view. It is thus important to pay attention not just to Rochdale but also to different models of co-operation and their diffusion. Further, although the framework for the nation state was often the main context for the historical development of co-operatives, similarities and differences will have to be treated very carefully in order to avoid generalisations that hide local and regional developments.

All info: http://www.recma.org/node/1042