Chapter 1 - The International Cooperative Movement: A Quiet Giant

Summary

This chapter deals with a caveat of sorts regarding the quality, availability, and consistency of basic data on the international cooperative movement. Although cooperatives are active in all economic sectors throughout Europe, national cooperative development has varied by country. In England consumer cooperatives are strong; in Germany credit cooperatives dominate. The chapter focuses on the cooperative experience in the United States, Canada, and Japan, and highlights the remarkable story of cooperative business that not only survived, but actually thrived within these economic behemoths. A discussion of the world's cooperative movement would not be complete without mention of cooperatives in China, India, and Brazil. Cooperatives have played a unique role in transitional economies, that is, those that are evolving from central planning to a free market. African cooperatives have been tremendously influenced by cooperative development aid from several northern European and North American cooperative movements.