Chapter 1: Co-Op Fundamentals
IN THIS LESSON
The work we do today to advance cooperative ownership follows from a long legacy of work.
Join us for a brief look at the movements and groups that inform cooperatives today. These principle are applicable across a wide variety of organizational types and focuses.
An abbreviated timeline of co-op history
This is by no means a comprehensive timeline or history of co-operatives – we encourage you to research these examples and dive deeper!
1600s
Underground Railroad
1780s-1820s
Mutual Aid Societies & Communes
Example: Brotherhood of Locomotive Firemen, a fraternal benefit society that provided sickness, disability, and life insurance to families of rail workers. Later evolved into some of the first railroad unions.
1787 Free African Society
Held religious services and provided mutual aid for "free Africans and their descendants" in Philadelphia. It was the first Black religious institution in the city and led to the establishment of the first independent Black churches in the US.
1845
Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers
Became the prototype for consumer co-ops in Great Britain and developed the Rochdale Principles which are still used by the International Cooperative Alliance.
1860s
Combahee River Colony
During the Civil War, the Combahee River Colony in South Carolina was formed by African American women who grew cotton on abandoned farms, remaining independent and eventually becoming a community of several hundred.
1870s
Post-Civil War Labor Movement
1877 St. Louis General Strike and the St. Louis Commune
One of the first and most significant general strikes in US history, organized by Knights of Labor and Workingmen’s Party. United thousands of black and white workers and succeeded briefly in taking control of city government.
1880s
Colored Farmers' National and Co-operative Union
Started when the Southern Farmers’ Alliance would not admit Black farmers. By 1891 the cooperative had more than a million members.
Knights of Labor
One of the first mass working class organizations in the US, worked to organize across gender and race as well both skilled and de-skilled jobs.
1930s-1940s
Young Negroes’ Cooperative League
Its mission was “to gain economic power through co-operation,” that was led by activists like Ella Baker. It inspired and trained many people who later became leaders of the Civil Rights movement.
1950s
Mondragon
Founded in Basque region of Spain, it currently consists of 96 separate, self-governing cooperatives, around 80,000 people, and 14 R&D centers.
1960s-1970s
Federation of Southern Co-operatives
Created to promote cooperative economics, sustain Black farmer ownership and control over land, to support the economic viability of family and independent farm businesses—especially small, sustainable, and organic farms.
Freedom Quilting Bee
A quilting cooperative started by black women based in Alabama as a way to generate income. Some of the Bee's quilts are displayed in the Smithsonian Institution.
The Lucas Plan
Workers at Lucas Aerospace published an alternative business plan and started a movement for ‘socially useful production’ to replace weapons manufacturing with more democratic technology development.
Freedom Farm Cooperative
An agricultural cooperative in Mississippi, founded by civil rights activist Fannie Lou Hamer.
Black Panther Party
Members used and promoted cooperative housing for the community; established cooperative bakeries, and free breakfast programs.
1980s
Marcora Law
A law that allowed Italian workers to claim future unemployment benefits in a lump sum to buyout their former employer and form a co-operative. The Emilia-Romgna region’s ecosystem of cooperatives is one of its legacies.
2000-2010
Cooperativas in Argentina
A movement of over 300+ “recovered businesses” that went bankrupt and closed but were then taken over by workers who claimed factories and converted them to worker co-ops.
Present day
Cleveland Evergreen Cooperatives
Inspired by Mondragon, it started with a laundry cooperative that took on services for the Cleveland Clinic, then used profits to create new cooperatives and acquire existing business to convert them into cooperatives.
Right to Own
A policy framework to support worker ownership transitions, developed by The Next System project.
International Cooperative Alliance
Founded in London in 1895 during the 1st Cooperative Congress, aims to inform, define, and defend the Cooperative Principles and develop international trade.
US Federation of Worker Cooperatives (USFWC)
The national grassroots membership organization for worker cooperatives, includes more than 350 business and organizational members that represent the 1,000 estimated worker co-ops and their 10,000 workers across the country.
Big thank you to Cooperation for Liberation in Chicago for their support in creating this timeline. Check out their zine and work at https://kolanutcollab.org/portfolio-item/coop4lib/.
Thank you also to Dr. Jessica Gordon Nembhard, author of Collective Courage: A History of African American Cooperative Economic Thought and Practice, for her work in documenting a long and rich tradition of Black-led cooperatives.
Cooperative Principles
Voluntary and open membership
Co-ops are open to all people that use their services and are willing to accept the responsibilities of membership without discrimination.
Cooperation among cooperatives
Co-ops work together through local, national, and international structures to build alternative economic structures that serve their members and communities.
Member economic participation
Members contribute economically to the co-op, either through their labor or direct payment. Part of that capital remains the common property of the co-op. Other parts can be allocated by members as reserves or benefit members in proportion to their contribution to the co-op.
Concern for community
Co-ops work to help their surrounding communities thrive as well a s their members
Education, information, and training
Co-ops provide education and training for their members and employees so that they can contribute to them effectively. They inform the general public about the nature and benefits of co-ops to enhance understanding.
Democratic member control
All members have equal voting rights in policies and decisions.
Autonomy and independence
Co-ops are autonomous organizations controlled by their members. If they enter into agreements with other organizations, they do so on terms that ensure members’ democratic control.
Cooperative Principles in Action
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Cooperative Principles in Action 〰️
“A huge benefit [of our cooperative] is that everyone who comes in has the ability to co-imagine what the space could be, to ask for what you need and have your needs met. That goes for workers, members, and people who shop here. Having a space that prioritizes agency is huge because it’s not a given in most spaces.”
Which cooperative principles move you?
Download the worksheet and brainstorm with your community.
““When you try to educate people on [alternative systems], you get some resistance. And then it takes a lot of exercising the mind and practicing certain methods for people to fully understand.” ”