co-operative

co-operative An alternative form of organization to the capitalist system, found in some decentralized forms of socialism, but also sustainable on a successful basis within capitalism itself. There are two kinds: producer (or worker) co-operatives, which constitute a form of worker self-management; and consumer co-operatives, in which customers share in the profits in relation to purchases. The co-operative movement grew out of ideas formulated in the early nineteenth century by Robert Owen in Britain and Charles Fourier in France, and has spread throughout the world, with particular success in the United States. Co-operatives include farming co-operatives (for marketing, processing, and purchasing); retailer-owned wholesale co-operatives; mutual insurance companies; credit and banking co-operatives; consumer goods shops; and group health and medical schemes. Historically, co-operatives tend to have experienced difficulty in raising funds for long-term investment; ensuring that an adequate proportion of the profit is reinvested rather than distributed among the membership; and reconciling their democratic ideals with management expertise and élitism.