Breaking Out of Co‐operation's ‘Iron Cage’:from Movement Degeneration to Building a Developmental Movement

Diamantopoulos, Mitch

doi:10.1111/j.1467-8292.2012.00461.x

Cited by 24 publications

(22 citation statements)

References 19 publications

(29 reference statements)

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“…In addition, a smaller but growing line of research has highlighted cooperatives' potential to regenerate; that is, to revive cooperative values and re-assemble democratically-structured forms of decision making as a reaction to degeneration (e.g. Ng and Ng 2009, Diamantopoulos 2012, Giagnocavo et al 2014, Storey et al 2014, Narvaiza et al 2017. These studies illustrate how cooperatives can regenerate by mobilizing resources to trigger organizational change, such as by reinforcing a culture of discussion and open criticism and strengthening members' active participation.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Other studies, meanwhile, have demonstrated that cooperatives and other member-based organizations can resist degeneration and achieve a healthy balance between oligarchy and democracy by both maintaining their original nature in the long term and revitalizing their democratic functioning over time (Ng and Ng 2009, Storey et al 2014, Narvaiza et al 2017. A variety of mechanisms are highlighted, including the reenactment of a democratic discourse that countervails the dominant market rhetoric (Eikenberry 2009); the reproduction of an active membership through careful selection of managers and workers and their socialization into cooperative values (Chaves and Sajardo 2004); the permanent requirement for accountability and endless overt critique of managers to circumvent the coalescence of power in their hands (Jaumier 2017); the organization of labor to reinforce a participatory culture grounded in self-determination, horizontality and solidarity (Hernandez 2006); connection to wider social movements to promote community-based goals (Diamantopoulos 2012, Langmead 2016, and the eventual 'remutualization' of cooperatives (Sousa and Herman 2012).…”

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confidence: 99%

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Is there life after degeneration? The organizational life cycle of cooperatives under a ‘grow‐or‐die’ dichotomy

Bretos

Errasti

Servós

2019

Ann Public Coop Econ

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This article provides an in-depth, longitudinal analysis combining real-time and retrospective data on a set of Mondragon's industrial cooperatives that are organized as international groups. We examine the life cycle of these international cooperative groups, which is expected to evolve differently to that of small-and mediumsized cooperatives that operate exclusively on a local scale. The article is theoretically informed by the cooperative life cycle theory, as well as by recent insights from the degeneration and regeneration theses. Our analysis yields an intricate picture of the evolution of cooperatives faced with a 'grow-or-die' dichotomy. On the one hand, our findings reject the highly simplistic and deterministic view of the degeneration thesis by demonstrating that these cooperatives can mobilize resources to revitalize cooperative values and practices. On the other, we find that regeneration may not occur in a consistent, sequential fashion as the previous literature suggests, but rather degenerative and regenerative tendencies can occur simultaneously, even leading to long-lasting, unresolvable situations. In light of this, the article asks future research to draw on power-aware and politically informed approaches for further understanding of how cooperatives manage the tensions at each organizational stage of their life cycle, and of which organizational actors benefit, and how, from reversing some degenerative tendencies while maintaining others intact.

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Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Is there life after degeneration? The organizational life cycle of cooperatives under a ‘grow‐or‐die’ dichotomy

Bretos

Errasti

Servós

2019

Ann Public Coop Econ

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“…For instance, the debate on how to extend/scale up the SSE without compromising its core values is a focal point. The controversies around the internationalization processes of the Mondragon Cooperative Corporation [48,49], the debates on the denaturation and demutualization processes in the social economy [50], and so-called cooperative degeneration [51,52] illustrate the limits of some of the growth models of this kind of enterprise. Nevertheless, the so called "degeneration thesis" has recently come under scrutiny.…”

Section: Sse and Its Own Particular Tensionsmentioning

confidence: 99%

Convergences between the Social and Solidarity Economy and Sustainable Development Goals: Case Study in the Basque Country

Villalba-Eguiluz

Egia-Olaizola²,

Mendiguren

2020

Sustainability

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This article analyzes the potential of the social and solidarity economy (SSE) to foster the sustainable development goals (SDGs). Local public policies play an important role in supporting both the SSE and SDGs. We select a case study of four SSE projects of a local development agency in the Basque Country, where the SSE has a considerable presence through diverse forms and experiences. We address how these projects, which are implemented in a coordinated and transversal manner, contribute to many specific targets within SDG goals number 8 (growth and decent work), 12 (sustainable consumption and production patterns), and 5 (gender equity). However, some limitations have also been identified: (i) trade-offs, in both SSE and SDGs, between economic growth and other aims centered on environmental sustainability; and (ii) avoidance of handling issues, which limits a systemic transformation.

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“…La principale caractéristique d'une coopérative de solidarité est sa configuration multisociétaire, c'est-à-dire qu'elle doit compter un minimum de deux catégories de membres. La possibilité d'inclure au sein de leur sociétariat divers types de membres réaffirme avec force la dimension sociale du modèle coopératif (Defourny et Nyssens, 2010;Diamantopoulos, 2012) en proposant une structure organisationnelle qui cherche à réconcilier les besoins, à première vue contradictoires, des différents types de membres (Spear, Cornforth et Aiken, 2009). Cela dit, il existe à ce jour peu d'études sur le fonctionnement quotidien d'une coopérative de solidarité (Langlois et Girard, 2006) et aucune ne porte, à notre connaissance, sur la transformation d'un OBNL en coopérative de solidarité.…”

Section: Paradoxes Et Coopérationunclassified

Les paradoxes de la transformation d’une association en coopérative de solidarité : le cas de l’Accorderie de Québec

Michaud

Audebrand

2017

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Cet article vise à approfondir les connaissances sur les défis et les enjeux complexes des coopératives de solidarité, une configuration multisociétaire qui doit compter au moins deux catégories de membres parmi les suivantes : consommateurs, producteurs, travailleurs et membres de soutien. Bien qu’il s’agisse d’une innovation sociale qui répond aux besoins d’acteurs du développement socioéconomique communautaire, la coopérative de solidarité reste, à ce jour, peu étudiée. Afin d’améliorer notre compréhension de ce modèle d’entreprise, nous étudions le cas de l’Accorderie de Québec, qui a entrepris un processus de transformation, passant d’une structure associative (OBNL) à une structure de coopérative multisociétaire (coopérative de solidarité). Notre étude de cas nous conduit à mettre en évidence certains paradoxes vécus dans cette coopérative de solidarité, contribuant ainsi à enrichir les connaissances des enjeux entourant cette nouvelle forme organisationnelle.This article focuses on the complex challenges faced by multi-stakeholder co-operatives, an innovative co-operative configuration that consists of at least two categories of members among the following: consumers, producers, workers and supporting members. Although this social innovation has shown some success in meeting the socio-economic needs of actors, it is still understudied. To improve our understanding of this business model, we studied the case of the Accorderie de Québec, which undertook and completed a transformation from a non-profit organization into a multi-stakeholder co-operative. Our case study allows us to highlight some paradoxes experienced in this multi-stakeholder co-operative, contributing to the knowledge of the challenges faced by this new organizational form.Este artículo tiende a profundizar el conocimiento sobre los retos y desafíos complejos de las cooperativas de solidaridad. Se trata de una configuración multi-societaria que debe contar, al menos, con dos categorías de miembros entre los que se encuentran consumidores, productores, trabajadores y miembros de apoyo. Aunque se trata de una innovación social que satisface las necesidades de los actores de desarrollo socioeconómico de la comunidad, la cooperativa de solidaridad ha sido poco estudiada. Para mejorar la comprensión sobre este modelo de empresa, el artículo analiza el caso de la Accorderie de Quebec, organización que ha llevado a cabo un proceso de transformación, que la llevó a pasar de una estructura asociativa (NPO) a la estructura de cooperativa multi-societaria (cooperativa de solidaridad). Nuestro estudio de caso permite poner de relieve algunas paradojas percibidas en esta cooperativa, lo que contribuye a enriquecer el conocimiento de los desafíos que rodean a esta nueva forma organizacional

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Breaking Out of Co‐operation's ‘Iron Cage’:from Movement Degeneration to Building a Developmental Movement

Cited by 24 publications

References 19 publications

Is there life after degeneration? The organizational life cycle of cooperatives under a ‘grow‐or‐die’ dichotomy

Is there life after degeneration? The organizational life cycle of cooperatives under a ‘grow‐or‐die’ dichotomy

Convergences between the Social and Solidarity Economy and Sustainable Development Goals: Case Study in the Basque Country

Les paradoxes de la transformation d’une association en coopérative de solidarité : le cas de l’Accorderie de Québec

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