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by
Ian MacPherson
Emeritus Professor of History
Co-director and Principal Investigator
The National Hub
The Canadian Social Economy Research Partnerships
University of Victoria, Victoria, B.C., Canada
Challenges to Internationalism within the Co-operative Movement:
One Historian’s views
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• Thanks to Darryl Reed
• My past interests
• My future hopes
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The Optimism (Hubris?) of Beginnings
• Inherited and early enthusiasms for co-operative internationalism
• Philosophe, Owen/St Simon traditions
• ICA 1895
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Our Understandings
• Early writings: Charles Gide, the Webbs, • Miscellany, ephemera • J. Birchall, The International Co-operative
Movement (Manchester, 1995)• Rita Rhodes, The ICA in War and Peace
(Geneve, 1995)• Dispersed sources: national accounts, special
studies• The elephant and the octopus
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Eurocentric Conceptualisations
• Nationalism/sector dualities, 1900 UK-consumer France - worker Denmark - agriculture Germany - banking• North/South/Central Europe• The ideological complexities• The daughters• Projection outward -- the donor fallacy• Matters of legislation and regulation
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And yet, some claim to “universality”
• confidence in urban and rural working people to develop, govern, and manage co-operatives of different kinds
• believed that democratic control was as important as political democracy
• advocated creating business entities that did not over-privilege capital or management
• educated people even as it sold them groceries, sold their produce, or taught them the virtues of thrift
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And yet, some claim to “universality” - 2
• use local power to amass greater concentrations of power through democratic federations and other kinds of responsible structures
• believed that people, through the development of Associative Intelligence, could learn how to co-operate
• and envisioned organisations that were based on real not speculative value.
Less culture bound than other European ideological exports? Marx? Manchester liberalism?
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The internationalist visionaries
• The early ICA years: Henry J. May, Charles Gide, Totomainz
• Will Watkins, Howard Cowden, James Warbasse, Surem Saxena
• Mauritz Bonow, Nils Thedin, Lars Marcus• The national supporters: India, Japan,
United States, Canada, Brazil, Argentina• Individuals and organisations
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Why the visionaries have not been well heard - 1
1. Dynamics of co-operative organisations
- Sector, local, federations, national interests
- Weak aspects of national apex organisations
- Flow of knowledge
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Why the visionaries have not been well heard - 2
2. The uncertainties of state relationships
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Why the visionaries have not been well heard - 3
3. War and Disaster- the impact of WWI- Recognition- Surmounting the divisions- Rebuilding: the League- Addressing international issues- Producer/consumer split- The impact of WWII- The German movement- The United Nations- The cold war- The expansion of alternatives:
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Why the visionaries have not been well heard - 4
4. The USSR and the Centrally-Planned Economies
- The historic debates with Marxists- The question of state involvement- Inability to address key issues- The competition in the South- Positions on peace- Suspicion of co-operatives
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Why the visionaries have not been well heard - 5
5. Fascism
- Impact on Germany + Italy (Portugal? Spain?)
- Problems for the ICA
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Why the visionaries have not been well heard - 6
6. Imperialism- Important roles- Regulators - Diverse roles - Mixed co-op legacies- Taint of imperial associations
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Why the visionaries have not been well heard - 7
7. The challenges of “development”- Importance after WWII- The sad impact of competition- Mixed results- Need for analysis and study, training and
engagement- Issue of sustainability- Complexity of permanent connectivities
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Why the visionaries have not been well heard - 7
7. The impact of independence movements - Surprising importance- The politics of scarcity- Suspect use of the state and patronage- The founder syndrome- The rejection amid structural adjustment- The weakening amid democratic and elite
restructuring
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Why the visionaries have not been well heard - 8
8. The knowledge limitations
- Uneven research in quantity, variety and quality
- Problem of accessibility
- Poor understanding of recipients -- their experiences and reflections
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Given the problems, should we just adjourn and find a place to enjoy some good Swedish beer?
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NO!!!
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Despite the problems….• 1 billion members• Top 300 employ 20% more people than multi-nationals• Over 300 types of co-ops• 200 years (more?) of history• A model that works, fitfully at times but perpetually• Capacity to work in different contexts• “A movement of the past” is not an argument, it is
sophistry, often made for elf-interest, that avoids the key issues
• Importance and interest as a field of research
