El Cooperativismo en Tiempos de Crisis (Cooperation in Times of Crisis)

Abstract

Over the last decades our society has been guided by the conviction that the traditional for-profit corporation is the only viable type of enterprise in the global economic system. According to this approach, the for-profit enterprise model has spread worldwide, while other forms of enterprises, including cooperatives, were confined to play a marginal role and destined to disappear. Current circumstances, though, are proving that a pluralism of enterprise forms is essential to tackling the complex consequences of the global economic crisis, and that cooperatives are a crucial component of this pluralism. Against this backdrop, the cooperative sector should make an effort in order to meet the challenges posed by the current economic crisis and find a way to fulfill its potential. At the international level, the cooperative movement has all of the energies and resources that are needed in order to tap new opportunities drawing on its traditional principles, which are founded on critical discussion and pluralism, rather than on ideology and on the imposition of monolithic identities. The role of research and training in this context is crucial. Any investments made with the goal of improving our knowledge is an investment toward a less vulnerable future. La versione italiana di questo documento e disponibile al seguente link: http://ssrn.com/abstract=2082063