Cooperative Structure for the Middle: Mobilizing for Power and Identity

Gray, Thomas W.; Stevenson, Gregory W.

doi:10.7551/mitpress/9780262122993.003.0003

Cited by 11 publications

(11 citation statements)

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 81%

“…Yet as we have seen, they mix with other objectives, referring to other kinds of values and concerns: regional economy, solidarity and identity. The fact that our three case studies are related to the activity of cooperative structures echoes conclusions of several scholars underlining the role of cooperatives in the resistance to neoliberal pressures (compare Mooney 2004;Gray and Stevenson 2008;van der Ploeg 2008). Stock et al (2014) relate cooperation to strategies of actual autonomy, where autonomy involves collective freedom for farmers as a social class, connecting individual freedoms to the ongoing reproduction of the farming sector.…”

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 81%

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Introducing ‘Seeds of Change’ into the Food System? Localisation Strategies in the Swiss Dairy Industry

Forney

Häberli

2014

Sociologia Ruralis

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The Swiss dairy‐farming sector faces challenging times after the removal of milk quotas. In this context, several cooperative and federative structures have developed new strategies to improve the situation of dairy farmers. Local products play an important role in these strategies. Based on ethnographic work, this article looks at the social construction and negotiation of ‘the local’ in three case studies. Firstly, we show what diverging geographical and moral definitions of the local emerge from the development of these localised food networks. Then we look at how the various moralities of the local in turn contribute to the transformation of the actors' position in the broader food system. Finally, we argue that apparently narrow economic strategies might open new paths for more transformative developments based on alternative values such as regional development, solidarity and identity.

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Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 81%

Section: Resultssupporting

confidence: 81%

Introducing ‘Seeds of Change’ into the Food System? Localisation Strategies in the Swiss Dairy Industry

Forney

Häberli

2014

Sociologia Ruralis

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“…These business networks incorporate strategic coordination between food producers, distributors, and sellers in pursuit of common financial and social goals". In contrast to centralized cooperatives [69] or conventional food supply chains where farms are vertically integrated under bigger organizations, FHs allow for the creation of strategic networks, which act as coordinating structures. Based on a federative principle, farms are able to retain their individuality, organisational independence, control their own brand identities and their economic strategies.…”

mentioning

confidence: 99%

Competitiveness of Small Farms and Innovative Food Supply Chains: The Role of Food Hubs in Creating Sustainable Regional and Local Food Systems

2016

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Abstract:Over the last decades, the economic, social and environmental sustainability of the conventional agri-food system has and continues to be contested within both academic and public institutions. For small farms, the unsustainability of the food system is even more serious; farms' declining share of profit and the cost-price squeeze of commodity production has increased barriers to market access with the inevitable effect of agricultural abandonment. One way forward to respond to the existing conventional agri-food systems and to create a competitive or survival strategy for small family farms is the re-construction of regional and local agri-food systems, aligning with Kramer and Porter's concept of shared value strategy. Through a critical literature review, this paper presents "regional and local food hubs" as innovative organizational arrangements capable of bridging structural holes in the agri-food markets between small producers and the consumers-individuals and families as well as big buyers. Food hubs respond to a supply chain (or supply network) organizational strategy aiming at re-territorialising the agri-food systems through the construction of what in the economic literature are defined as values-based food supply chains.

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“…But their resistance goes beyond membership. Agricultural cooperatives are also pushed to get big or get out (Gray and Stevenson, 2008); in that context, these MSCs are proposing a post-productionist version that goes beyond the bulk savings and dividends focus of conventional farming cooperatives.…”

Section: Sectorialmentioning

confidence: 99%

“…Empirical, by analysing two European case studies, one from Southern Europe (Spain) and one from Northern Europe (UK). In a time when many conventional farmers' cooperatives are focusing on the economic benefits of the cooperative model, forgetting their transformative origins (Gray and Stevenson, 2008;Berthelot, 2012;Gray, 2014), this research asks whether the MSC model can re-inject cooperative principles and the movement back into food and farming cooperatives.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Going back to go forwards? From multi-stakeholder cooperatives to Open Cooperatives in food and farming

Ajates

2017

Journal of Rural Studies

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Many authors have proposed cooperatives as one of the preferred governance structures for realising alternative food systems, being recommended both in farming and also downstream at consumer level. However, recommendations for the cooperative model still draw a dividing line between producer and consumer cooperatives. As opposed to conventional agricultural cooperatives (ACs) made up of farmer members only, the multi-stakeholder model brings together producers, consumers and/or restaurateurs under one single enterprise. This paper analyses multi-stakeholder cooperatives' (MSCs) potential to recreate more sustainable food flows between rural and urban areas and to overcome the limitations of conventional farmer cooperatives focused more on economic than social and environmental benefits. As part of this research, historical data from cooperative archives is used to look at the history and early attempts of multi-stakeholder cooperation in food and farming. Additionally, current supporting evidence from Spain and UK, in the context of European food policy frameworks, is also presented. A four-fold proposal for open cooperatives is discussed and applied to the analysis of the case studies in the framework of global transformative networks and alliances. The introduction of different types of members seems to both complicate and enrich the cooperative mission, both theoretically and in practice. Their networks with other social movements reveal how the MSCs presented are trying to change, rather than adapt to the market economies they struggle to survive in. The findings suggest MSCs in food and farming are striving to achieve more-than-economic benefits and are moving into the arena of the open and pro-commons economy and other global social movements.

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Cooperative Structure for the Middle: Mobilizing for Power and Identity

Cited by 11 publications

References 0 publications

Introducing ‘Seeds of Change’ into the Food System? Localisation Strategies in the Swiss Dairy Industry

Introducing ‘Seeds of Change’ into the Food System? Localisation Strategies in the Swiss Dairy Industry

Competitiveness of Small Farms and Innovative Food Supply Chains: The Role of Food Hubs in Creating Sustainable Regional and Local Food Systems

Going back to go forwards? From multi-stakeholder cooperatives to Open Cooperatives in food and farming

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