A cooperative is a union from persons to an enterprise, which is heard together these persons and led democratically by them. A general goal of cooperatives is it, common economical, to satisfy social and cultural needs. World-wide are involved at least 700 million members in cooperatives, whereby these internationally in the ICA, which internationally CO-operational Alliance is organized. Cooperatives are value communities, which usually pursue goals, which go beyond pure business concerns. The ICA describes the self-help, direct responsibility, democracy, equality, cheapness and the solidarity as fundamental values. In tradition of their founders cooperative members trust honesty, openness, social responsibility and interest in other humans in the ethical values.

Cooperatives in the economic science

With respect to the economic science traditionally between promotion cooperatives and production cooperatives one differentiates.

• The promotion cooperatives are as procurement and agricultural cooperative a joint undertaking of the members, which represents means for the purpose for the fulfilment of certain functions for the carrier managing (private households, enterprises). The members are at the same time users of the co-operation-operational achievements (customer, supplier), joint owner (carrier of will formation and control), as well as financial sources.

• On the other hand an enterprise is inserted into the cooperative with productive cooperatives, which serves for the members as source of income. Here identity of member and employee of the cooperative is present.

In modern national economies and are in recent time reestablishments of cooperatives in classical were to register above all however within innovative and/or "alternative" ranges. Examples of new fields of activity in the German cooperative sector are: Information technology and new media, tourism, health service, education and social tasks, power supply and environmental protection.

Cooperatives in the sociology

In social transformation crises the meaning of the Genossenschaftswesens often increases, so that also in Germany the occupation began with the sociology of the cooperatives (Franz Oppenheimer, for which third world Paul Trappe and at present Friedrich prince mountain). Oppenheimer formulated as "Ehernes law of the cooperatives" that all cooperatives originally justified as promoting operating managing transformed under the conditions of the Kapitalismus' too business operated companies.

History of the Genossenschaftswesens

Cooperative-similar organization forms are well-known from nearly all cultures. Historically seen already in the antiquity politically written municipalities (pole ice) had, religious communities or trunks genossenschaftliche courses, and they develop as alliances of the emergency again and again again. In Europe for example the Hanse and the guilds can be regarded as cooperative-similar organizations. In 19. The cooperatives took century in the cooperative movement a modern coined/shaped upswing with now more strongly purpose-rational beginning. Here also under private law out-arranged the cooperative right developed.

The probably oldest well-known and today still flowering cooperative in Europe is the Theelacht in the north. Them became toward end 9. Century based and in the northern and eastern Norderland administers as community country. Not to confound with Phanstastereien were which publicised agricultural and industriellen production cooperatives, in which about in each case 2,000 to 3,000 humans lives together, from Charles Fourier (France, 1772-1837) love, work and consume should.

Since 1848 in Great Britain consumer cooperatives were created after the ideas by Robert Owen (1771-1858) for obtaining low prices by elimination of the intermediate trade. In Germany they found at the beginning of only spreading, since the worker leader Ferdinand expected let-letting let-leaving the solution of the worker question by production cooperatives. Afterwards however they became up to the First World War one of the four main columns of the workers' movement (apart from the SPD, the trade unions and the worker education movement). Their history documented in the "small consumer museum" in Hamburg Sasel.

The commercial cooperatives were advanced by the liberal Hermann Schulze Delitzsch (1808-1883), the purchase, sales and loan associations for craftsmen and retailers based. The rural cooperatives became lively against it from Friedrich William Raiffeisen (1818-1888), the saving and credit banks the financing of seeds and machines energized. Both ideas were fought at first against let-letting let-leaving, but the ideas Raiffeisens had effects also on the European foreign country. In the GDR they were converted into agricultural production cooperatives (LPGs).

The form of the co-operative housebuilding society became in 19. Century by Victor Huber in the life called. Due to the high capital requirement of the co-operative housebuilding societies these experienced a substantial upswing however only by the introduction of the Genossenschaftsgesetzes in the year 1889 and other national supporting measures for financing. In Canada such cooperatives were in former times very popular. Building the CO-operational in such a way specified the houses built, and these were then taken over by the individual cooperative members. Purpose of these cooperatives was it to receive by wholesale purchase a quantity discount on building material.

The beginnings of the loan banks decrease/go back, like the rural cooperatives to the principles of the self-help, direct responsibility and autonomy of Franz Hermann Schulze Delitzsch and Friedrich William Raiffeisen. Both created 19 in the center. Century independently the first credit cooperatives.

A revolutionary cooperative, with the right to work by national workshops for unemployed person supply announced the French employment minister Louis Blanc connected in the year 1848. The studios nationaux failed because of the too high need of public means (unemployment benefit).

The Grameen bank was created by the scientist Yunus in Bangladesh as "bank for arms" and resembles in its form the loan banks. It is guaranteed with social pressure that credits and interest are paid back.

Genossenschaftswesen in Europe

European union

Starting from 18 August 2006 the possibility exists of selecting for genossenschaftliche activities the legal form of the European cooperative in the European union. This is to facilitate the organization of such enterprises on European level and represents thereby a further step for the improvement of the domestic market.

Articles in category "Cooperative"

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