Co-operatives and the Social Question

Overview

While co-operative ideas had been discussed in all the Nordic countries from at least the 1860s, it was not until the 1880s that the first permanent organizations appeared. Published to mark the UN International Year of the Co-operative in 2012, this groundbreaking volume examines the development of the co-operative movement in the Nordic countries and in eastern Europe. Co-operatives and the Social Question presents a unique comparative transnational perspective on the spread and development of co-operative ideas in these regions, as well as the links between them. The book offers a new perspective on late 19th- and early 20th-century debates on the social question, modernization, and the foundations of the welfare state. It is a wide-ranging history, ranging from the urban consumer co-operative societies of Sweden to the peasant organizations of Hungary and Galicia. The book not only provides an overview of the growth of co-operatives in those nations, but also traces the regional transnational spread of co-operative ideas and practices, as well as the importance of the moral and modernizing aims of co-operation. (Series: Scandinavia and the Baltic - Transnational and International Challenges) ***"After reading the book, one becomes more aware of the conflicts of interest, politics and ideology (or ideals) which have influenced both the emergence of early European co-operatives and their frequent affiliations to (or co-optation by) groups with differing political, nationalist, religious, economic and social aspirations....an important and delightful book..." - Nadia Johanisova, Journal of Co-operative Studies, Winter 2012