Presents a short history of the labour and the cooperative movements. Compares the situations of workers of the organized sector with that of the unorganized sector. Proposes a joint strategy to be undertaken by unions and cooperatives.

<title>Abstract</title> This article provides a systematic descriptive and analytical framework for understanding the comparative advantages of member-owned businesses (MOBs) such as cooperatives, mutuals, and economic associations. First, it provides a short description of two main ownership types—consumer...

Newly emerging nations in the developing world put great efforts into developing multi-purpose co-operative societies that, it was hoped, would bring the benefits of development to the rural poor. With some exceptions these failed to live up to expectations; having been created by governments...

Participation of members in cooperatives is essential if they are to remain democratic and responsive, yet there is a surprising lack of theory as to why, and under what circumstances, people participate. This article identifies different types of participation, and considers the possibility of...

This paper asks how effective are co-operatives at surviving economic recession, and whether they can grow at the expense of investor-owned businesses and provide an alternative business model that is fairer, more stable and less risky. The paper begins by providing historical evidence...

This article focuses on the key question for co-operatives and mutuals of whether they can continue to be genuine member-owned and controlled businesses once they become very large. After providing a commentary on current attempts to revitalise member democracy in the UK consumer co-operative...

This article reports the findings of a project entitled 'The participation of members in mutual businesses'. A previous project developed a theoretical model of what makes people participate, focusing on the participation of public service users in council housing and social care services. The...

This article reports on findings from a three year study of co-operatives in Sri Lanka and Tanzania. The article asks three questions: why do co-operative sectors need reforming; what is the co-operative reform process; and why has reform succeeded in some countries but not others? It provides a...

This is a book in search of an alternative to the discredited investor-owned banks that have brought the rich countries into crisis and the world economy into a long period of austerity. It finds customer-owned banks – credit unions, co-operative banks, building societies – have hardly been...