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Co-operative economics
Cooperative (or co-operative) economics is a field of economics that incorporates cooperative studies and political economy toward the study and management of cooperatives.
Cooperative economics developed as both a theory and a concrete alternative to industrial capitalism in the late 1700s and early 1800s. As such, it was a form of stateless socialism. The term socialism, in fact, was coined in The Cooperative Magazine in 1827. Such socialisms arose in response to the negative effects of industrialism, where various clergymen, workers, and industrialists in England, such as Robert Owen, experimented with various models of collective farming and community housing with varying degrees of success. This movement was often integrated with other progressive movements of the era such as women's suffrage and abolitionism.
"British industrialist Robert Owen (1771–1858) founded a model factory town around his cotton mill and later established a model socialist community, New Harmony, in Indiana. Some proponents of women's rights, such as Emma Martin (1812–1851) in Britain and Flora Tristan (1801–1844) in France, stirred controversy by promoting socialism as the solution to female oppression."
While state socialism was growing popular, rising in the early 1900s, followed by collapse in the 20th century, the cooperative movement grew exponentially in all countries affected by socialism and British colonialism, such as Canada, the U.S., South Africa, and across Europe. Jessica Gordon Nembhard has produced one of the most thorough academic monographs on cooperative economics entitled Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice, which looks at how African American communities organized to survive white nationalism, capitalism, and colonialism in the 20th century. The International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) was formed in 1895 and National Cooperative Business Association founded in 1916.
The post-WWII era experienced a decline in interest towards cooperatives in the economics profession, with much lower quality and quantity of the discussion on cooperatives in economics text books published after the war compared to those published before the war.
The University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives was founded in 1962, which was possibly the first organization to collect data on cooperatives. In 2000, the Democracy Collaborative was created out of the University of Maryland, which – among other things – facilitates the creation and development of cooperatives. In 2004 the United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC) was founded, which, like the ICA, facilitates worker cooperatives (see "Types and Structures of Cooperatives" below). The ongoing success of cooperative economics in providing more effective alternatives to capitalist firms was so significant by the 21st century that the United Nations Assembly
"...declared 2012 as the International Year of Cooperatives, highlighting the contribution of cooperatives to socio-economic development, in particular recognizing their impact on poverty reduction, employment generation and social integration."
Contemporary cooperative economics has gained even further popularity since 2012, with numerous TED talks dedicated to the subject; they demonstrate how cooperative economics is able to solve problems in housing, food, and poverty that modern industrial countries have so far been unable to solve. In 2013, the USFWC spawned the Democracy at Work Institute, a sister organization that also facilitates the growth, creation, and conversion of worker cooperatives.
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Co-operative economics
Cooperative (or co-operative) economics is a field of economics that incorporates cooperative studies and political economy toward the study and management of cooperatives.
Cooperative economics developed as both a theory and a concrete alternative to industrial capitalism in the late 1700s and early 1800s. As such, it was a form of stateless socialism. The term socialism, in fact, was coined in The Cooperative Magazine in 1827. Such socialisms arose in response to the negative effects of industrialism, where various clergymen, workers, and industrialists in England, such as Robert Owen, experimented with various models of collective farming and community housing with varying degrees of success. This movement was often integrated with other progressive movements of the era such as women's suffrage and abolitionism.
"British industrialist Robert Owen (1771–1858) founded a model factory town around his cotton mill and later established a model socialist community, New Harmony, in Indiana. Some proponents of women's rights, such as Emma Martin (1812–1851) in Britain and Flora Tristan (1801–1844) in France, stirred controversy by promoting socialism as the solution to female oppression."
While state socialism was growing popular, rising in the early 1900s, followed by collapse in the 20th century, the cooperative movement grew exponentially in all countries affected by socialism and British colonialism, such as Canada, the U.S., South Africa, and across Europe. Jessica Gordon Nembhard has produced one of the most thorough academic monographs on cooperative economics entitled Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice, which looks at how African American communities organized to survive white nationalism, capitalism, and colonialism in the 20th century. The International Cooperative Alliance (ICA) was formed in 1895 and National Cooperative Business Association founded in 1916.
The post-WWII era experienced a decline in interest towards cooperatives in the economics profession, with much lower quality and quantity of the discussion on cooperatives in economics text books published after the war compared to those published before the war.
The University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives was founded in 1962, which was possibly the first organization to collect data on cooperatives. In 2000, the Democracy Collaborative was created out of the University of Maryland, which – among other things – facilitates the creation and development of cooperatives. In 2004 the United States Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC) was founded, which, like the ICA, facilitates worker cooperatives (see "Types and Structures of Cooperatives" below). The ongoing success of cooperative economics in providing more effective alternatives to capitalist firms was so significant by the 21st century that the United Nations Assembly
"...declared 2012 as the International Year of Cooperatives, highlighting the contribution of cooperatives to socio-economic development, in particular recognizing their impact on poverty reduction, employment generation and social integration."
Contemporary cooperative economics has gained even further popularity since 2012, with numerous TED talks dedicated to the subject; they demonstrate how cooperative economics is able to solve problems in housing, food, and poverty that modern industrial countries have so far been unable to solve. In 2013, the USFWC spawned the Democracy at Work Institute, a sister organization that also facilitates the growth, creation, and conversion of worker cooperatives.