ABSTRACT
Consumer co-operatives have taken many different forms, ranging from small community initiatives to extensive business federations that manufactured and distributed a wide range of goods and services to millions of members. The starting point for this chapter is the ambivalent status of consumer co-operatives, as retail businesses operating in competitive market economies, and at the same time as social movements motivated to some extent by idealism. Historians have been rather pessimistic about the ability of co-operatives to balance these sometimes conflicting demands and to present a lasting and viable alternative to capitalist retailing, especially in the era of mass consumerism after World War II. Drawing on a comparative study of consumer co-operatives in different national contexts, we argue however that co-operative history is more diverse than this suggests. Acknowledging the importance of transnational exchange, we examine what is distinctive about co-operative retailing and explore the reasons for the successes and failures of consumer co-operatives.
