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History of the cooperative movement
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History of the cooperative movement
The history of the cooperative movement concerns the origins and history of cooperatives across the world. Although cooperative arrangements, such as mutual insurance, and principles of cooperation existed long before, the cooperative movement began with the application of cooperative principles to business organization.
The cooperative spirit spread in Greece earlier than in other European countries. During the 18th century, a particular form of cooperative organization was developed in certain areas under Ottoman sovereignty. It was associated with specific agricultural or craft products destined to international markets. Derived from the Byzantine guilds, it was favored by the Ottoman administration because it was enabling better control of the production and tax collection. The Common Company (Syntrofia) of Ambelakia (1780 to 1812), established in Thessaly and providing Europe with high quality red cotton yarns, is typical of this system. Its development was related with a dyeing technique using the roots of the wild madder (ριζάρι, Rubia tinctorum) and providing an indelible and shiny color. 22 villages possessing 24 factories participated to the Syntrofia, which had 6000 individual members: financiers and landowners providing for capital and land, technicians providing know-how, workers providing labor. It operated several branch stores abroad (Amsterdam, Dresden, Hamburg, Leipzig, Odessa, London, St. Petersburg...). In 1810, its capital amounted to 20 000 000 gold francs, deposited in the Bank of Vienna. Other well-known cooperatives established in Greece during the Ottoman period, are the Shipping Guilds of the islands Hydra, Spetses and Psara; the Community of Mantemi, exploiting the mines of Chalkidhiki (Macedonia); and the Community of “Mastic Villages” (Μαστιχοχώρια) de Chios (North Aegean), whose activities were based on the mastic - a resin extracted from the mastic trees, growing only on this island and used for cosmetic, culinary and medicinal purposes.
In the rest of Europe, primarily in Britain and France, the cooperative movement began mainily in the 19th century. The Industrial Revolution and the increasing mechanisation of the economy transformed society and threatened the livelihoods of many workers. The concurrent labour and social movements and the issues they attempted to address describe the climate at the time.
The first documented consumer cooperative was founded in 1769, in a barely furnished cottage in Fenwick, East Ayrshire, when local weavers manhandled a sack of oatmeal into John Walker's whitewashed front room and began selling the contents at a discount, forming the Fenwick Weavers' Society.
In 1810, Rev. Henry Duncan of the Ruthwell Presbyterian Church in Dumfriesshire, Scotland founded a friendly society to create a cooperative depository institution at which his poorest parishioners could hold savings accounts accruing interest for sickness and old-age, which was the first established savings bank that would be merged into the Trustee Savings Bank between 1970 and 1985.
In the decades that followed, several cooperatives or cooperative societies formed including Lennoxtown Friendly Victualling Society, founded in 1812.
By 1830, there were several hundred co-operatives. Some were initially successful, but most cooperatives founded in the early 19th century had failed by 1840. However, Lockhurst Lane Industrial Co-operative Society (founded in 1832 and now Heart of England Co-operative Society), and Galashiels and Hawick Co-operative Societies (1839 or earlier, merged with The Co-operative Group) still trade today.
It was not until 1844 when the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers established the "Rochdale Principles" on which they ran their cooperative, that the basis for development and growth of the modern cooperative movement was established.
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History of the cooperative movement
The history of the cooperative movement concerns the origins and history of cooperatives across the world. Although cooperative arrangements, such as mutual insurance, and principles of cooperation existed long before, the cooperative movement began with the application of cooperative principles to business organization.
The cooperative spirit spread in Greece earlier than in other European countries. During the 18th century, a particular form of cooperative organization was developed in certain areas under Ottoman sovereignty. It was associated with specific agricultural or craft products destined to international markets. Derived from the Byzantine guilds, it was favored by the Ottoman administration because it was enabling better control of the production and tax collection. The Common Company (Syntrofia) of Ambelakia (1780 to 1812), established in Thessaly and providing Europe with high quality red cotton yarns, is typical of this system. Its development was related with a dyeing technique using the roots of the wild madder (ριζάρι, Rubia tinctorum) and providing an indelible and shiny color. 22 villages possessing 24 factories participated to the Syntrofia, which had 6000 individual members: financiers and landowners providing for capital and land, technicians providing know-how, workers providing labor. It operated several branch stores abroad (Amsterdam, Dresden, Hamburg, Leipzig, Odessa, London, St. Petersburg...). In 1810, its capital amounted to 20 000 000 gold francs, deposited in the Bank of Vienna. Other well-known cooperatives established in Greece during the Ottoman period, are the Shipping Guilds of the islands Hydra, Spetses and Psara; the Community of Mantemi, exploiting the mines of Chalkidhiki (Macedonia); and the Community of “Mastic Villages” (Μαστιχοχώρια) de Chios (North Aegean), whose activities were based on the mastic - a resin extracted from the mastic trees, growing only on this island and used for cosmetic, culinary and medicinal purposes.
In the rest of Europe, primarily in Britain and France, the cooperative movement began mainily in the 19th century. The Industrial Revolution and the increasing mechanisation of the economy transformed society and threatened the livelihoods of many workers. The concurrent labour and social movements and the issues they attempted to address describe the climate at the time.
The first documented consumer cooperative was founded in 1769, in a barely furnished cottage in Fenwick, East Ayrshire, when local weavers manhandled a sack of oatmeal into John Walker's whitewashed front room and began selling the contents at a discount, forming the Fenwick Weavers' Society.
In 1810, Rev. Henry Duncan of the Ruthwell Presbyterian Church in Dumfriesshire, Scotland founded a friendly society to create a cooperative depository institution at which his poorest parishioners could hold savings accounts accruing interest for sickness and old-age, which was the first established savings bank that would be merged into the Trustee Savings Bank between 1970 and 1985.
In the decades that followed, several cooperatives or cooperative societies formed including Lennoxtown Friendly Victualling Society, founded in 1812.
By 1830, there were several hundred co-operatives. Some were initially successful, but most cooperatives founded in the early 19th century had failed by 1840. However, Lockhurst Lane Industrial Co-operative Society (founded in 1832 and now Heart of England Co-operative Society), and Galashiels and Hawick Co-operative Societies (1839 or earlier, merged with The Co-operative Group) still trade today.
It was not until 1844 when the Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers established the "Rochdale Principles" on which they ran their cooperative, that the basis for development and growth of the modern cooperative movement was established.