Definition of Cooperatives
Definition
A co-operative is an autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a jointly-owned and democratically-controlled enterprise.
(Source: ICA Statement on the Cooperative Identity)
A cooperative is a business voluntarily owned and controlled by its member patrons and operated for them and by them on a nonprofit or cost basis. It is owned by the people who use it.
(Source: UWCC)
Statement on the Co-operative Identity
February 1996
International Co-operative Alliance
Please note: Links within this paper lead to additional articles on the topic from the International Co-op Information Center (ICIC)
Values
Co-operatives are based on the values of self-help, self-responsibility, democracy, equality, equity and solidarity. In the tradition of their founders, co-operative members believe in the ethical values of honesty, openness, social responsibility and caring for others.
The co-operative principles are guidelines by which co-operatives put their values into practice.
1st Principle: Voluntary and Open Membership
Co-operatives are voluntary organisations, open to all persons able to use their services and willing to accept the responsibilities of membership, without gender, social, racial, political or religious discrimination.
2nd Principle: Democratic Member Control
Co-operatives are democratic organisations controlled by their members, who actively participate in setting their policies and making decisions. Men and women serving as elected representatives are accountable to the membership. In primary co-operatives members have equal voting rights (one member, one vote) and cooperatives at other levels are also organised in a democratic manner.
3rd Principle: Member Economic Participation
Members contribute equitably to, and democratically control, the capital of their co-operative. At least part of that capital is usually the common property of the co-operative. Members usually receive limited compensation, if any, on capital subscribed as a condition of membership. Members allocate surpluses for any or all of the following purposes: developing their co-operative, possibly by setting up reserves, part of which at least would be indivisible; benefiting members in proportion to their transactions with the co-operative; and supporting other activities approved by the membership.
4th Principle: Autonomy and Independence
Co-operatives are autonomous, self- help organisations controlled by their members. If they enter into agreements with other organisations, including governments, or raise capital from external sources, they do so on terms that ensure democratic control by their members and maintain their co-operative autonomy.
5th Principle: Education, Training and Information
Co-operatives provide education and training for their members, elected representatives, managers, and employees so they can contribute effectively to the development of their co-operatives. They inform the general public - particularly young people and opinion leaders - about the nature and benefits of co- operation.
6th Principle: Co-operation among Co- operatives Co-operatives serve their members most effectively and strengthen the co-operative movement by working together through local, national, regional and international structures.
7th Principle: Concern for Community Co-operatives work for the sustainable development of their communities through policies approved by their members.
Articles and Information about Cooperative Principles and Values, Theory, and History
Agricultural Cooperatives: A Unified Theory of Pricing, Finance, and Investment
Ronald W. Cotterill, 1987
And Then There Were Seven: Cooperative Principles Updated
By Ann Hoyt
Between State and Market Forces: Greek Agricultural Organizations in Transition Period
Vassilis Petronis, XIIV Economic History Congress, Buenos Aires, 2002
Black Farmers in America, 1865-2000: The Pursuit of Independent Farming and the Role of Cooperatives
By Bruce J. Reynolds
United States Department of Agriculture
Rural Business - Cooperative Service
Research Report 194
Boosting the 3 Bs: England's Plunkett Foundation promotes "The furtherance of rural cooperatives"
by Eliza Banks Rural Cooperatives March/April 2000
A Century of the Philippine Cooperative Movement
by Prof. Jorge V. Sibal
UP SOLAIR, Diliman, Quezon City, Philippines
Chelmsford & District Trades Union Council: Co-operative Histories
The Citizen Producer: The Rise and Fall of Working-Class Cooperatives in the United States
by Steve Leikin, from Consumers Against Capitalism, edited by Ellen Furlough and Carl Strikwerda, and published by Rowman & Littlefield, 1999
Control by Cooperatives
By Ronald D. Knutson
Increasing Understanding of Public Problems and Policies, 1972, Pages 25-28
Farm Foundation
The Cooperative Coopers of Minneapolis,
by Steve Leikin, Minnesota History 57
(Winter 2001-2002): 286-405. Used with permission.
Cooperative Organization and Structure.
CIR 1 Section 6. 56 pgs. Reprinted 1993.
Donald L. Vogelsang, John M. Bailey, Lloyd Biser, E. Eldon Eversull, and J. Warren Mather.
USDA Rural Development
The Co-operative College: Society Histories
Cooperative Peace
by James Peter Warbasse
Published in 1950 by the Cooperative Publishing Association. The complete text of this classic book is available online.
Cooperative Principles as Constraints for Public Goods Production
by Bruce Reynolds. USDA. Publication for the NCR - 194 Research on Cooperatives Annual Meeting held on December 12-13, 2000.
The Cooperative Sector by AF Laidlaw
Consumer's co-operative societies,
by Charles Gide. This 1922 work is a University of Georgia Digital Library project output.
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Co-operative Ideology and Movement: The Roots, the Trunk and the Twigs, by S S Chandrasekharmath
2003
Cooperatives in the Context of Globalization and Liberalization
by Michael Cracknell
United Nations Food and Agricultural Organization Cooperatives Consultant
1996
Cooperatives 101: An Introduction To Cooperatives
CIR 55. 40 pgs. 1997. Donald A. Frederick
USDA Rural Development
Coops! ...and you
This University of Wisconsin Center for Cooperatives website offers learning modules on a number of cooperative topics; general information on co-ops; scholarship information and much more.
Current Law & Economics Debate: Tools for Assessing Fundamental Cooperative Changes?,
By Thomas L. Sporleder and Robert A. Skinner,
NCR-194 Research on Cooperatives Annual Meeting Presentation Paper, October 29, 2003
Do Yourself a Favor: Join a Cooperative
CIR 54. 9 pgs. 1996. Donald A. Frederick
USDA Rural Development
Economic Democracy in Practice: The Benefits of Cooperatives
by Aaron G. Lehmer,
Grassroots Globalization Network Working Paper Series Number - 1
Edwin G. Nourse and the Competitive Yardstick School of Thought
By Thomas P. Schomisch
UWCC Occasional Paper No. 2, July 1979
Evolution of Cooperative Thought, Theory and Purpose
By Randall E. Torgerson, Bruce J. Reynolds and Thomas W. Gray, January 1997
Presentation: Conference on "Cooperatives: Their Importance in the Future of the Food and Agricultural System," Food and Agricultural Marketing Consortium, Las Vegas, NV, January 16-17, 1997.
Farm Bargaining Co-ops: Group Action, Greater Gain
Research Report 130. 160 pgs. 1994. Gerald D. Marcus and Donald A. Frederick
USDA Rural Development
Foremost farms traces its name to J.C. Penney
by Pamela J. Karg Rural Cooperatives May/June 2000
Happy Anniversary -- 250 years of cooperation in America
by David J. Thompson
2002
History of Work Cooperation in America
by John Curl
1980; Revised 1997
How Nonprofit and Economy Can co-exist: A Cooperative Perspective
Yair Levi, CIRCOM, Israel August 2005
The Many Meanings of "Solidarity": The Negotiation of Values in the Mondragon Worker- Cooperative Complex Under Pressure.
by George Cheney of the Department of Communication Studies, University of Montana- Missoula.
A New Institutional Economics Approach to Contracts and Cooperatives,
by Sykuta, M.E. and M.L. Cook,
Amer. J. Agr. Econ., 83(5): 1271-1277, 2001
An Ownership Rights Typology of Cooperative Models By Fabio R. Chaddad and Michael L. Cook
University of Missouri, Department of Agricultural Economics, Working Paper No. AEWP 2002-06, May 2002.
Promotion of cooperatives. Report V(2)
ILO, Geneva, February 2001, International Labour Conference (89 th Session: 2001)
The Rochdale Cooperative on Toad Lane was the spark for the Cooperative Movement.
A history from Ronald Kumon
The Role and History of Dairy Cooperatives
by Robert Cropp of UWCC
The Role of Cooperatives in Providing Local Answers to Globalization.
by Levin, Mark. , ILO Cooperative Branch, Geneva. San José, Costa Rica, May 2001 Keynote Speech to the 10th National Cooperative Congress.
Rural Cooperatives Special Issue Celebrating Sixty-Five Years of Cooperative Progress January/February 1999
Self-Help By the People: The Story of the Rochdale Pioneers
By George Jacob Halyoake, 1907
Stakeholder Cooperation
Shann Turnbull, Macquarie University, Sydney
Journal Of Cooperative Studies, Vol. 29, No. 3, 1997
Strengthening Ethics Within Agricultural Cooperatives
Research Report 151. 52 pgs. 1997. Paul Lasley, Phillip Baumel, Ronald Deiter, and Pat Hipple
USDA Rural Development
Turmoil of early 20th century led to USDA role in assisting co-ops
By Patrick Duffey
Rural Cooperatives July/August 2001
Understanding Capper-Volstead Act of 1922
CIR 35. 9 pgs. Reprinted 1995. David Volkin
USDA Rural Development
USDA program brought electricity and a better way of life to rural America
by Dan Campbell Rural Development July/August 2000
What Are Cooperatives?
CIR 10. 24 pgs. 1995. Galen W. Rapp
USDA Rural Development.
What Gives Cooperatives a Bad Name? ,
by Bruce Anderson and Brian Henehan
NCR-194 Research on Cooperatives Annual Meeting Presentation Paper, October 29, 2003
What Is a Cooperative? Why Cooperatives Are Organized
CIR 50. 1995. 4-page brochure
Galen W. Rapp, USDA Rural Development
What is Cooperation? The Philosophy of Cooperation and It's Relationship to Cooperative Structure and Operations
By Frank Groves, October 1985
UWCC Occasional Paper No. 6
Why do co-operatives fail as co-operatives?
David Griffiths
Co-operative Federation of Victoria, Ltd., Australia, May 2003
Wisconsin Stories: Camp Co-op
February 2002 Wisconsin Public Television broadcast covering the role cooperatives have
played in the state's history.
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