Cooperativism at Work: Worker-Owned Cooperatives Across the World, ed. Bruno Roelants,
(Routledge, 2026, $84.99. Hardback $200)
This is a big book, coming in at just under 500 pages with 36 chapters (if you include the very important introduction and conclusion chapters written by Bruno Roelants himself, pictured). It has eight chapters that provide the history and context for worker co-operatives in individual countries and 24 case studies from those eight and another seven countries.
Another valuable chapter by Roelants details the evolution of worker and social co-operatives globally – and the gradual move towards global standards and norms, all within the broader context of the development of the world-wide co-operative movement.
Fortunately Roelants has included a useful roadmap to the book in his introduction, giving advice to readers who may want to home in on some specific aspects of worker co-operatives rather than take a linear hike through the whole tome.
Roelants makes some big claims in his opening, which is worth quoting: “This book is a pioneering work in the field of worker-owned co-operatives, offering a comprehensive overview of the subject. It features authentic case studies from all continents, providing valuable insights into the global significance of these enterprises.
Related: Bruno Roelants on co-operativism at work
“It delves into their historical roots and evolution since the 17th century, highlighting their resilience and capacity for growth.
“It examines their contributions to local development and community building, emphasising their potential for positive impact.
“It addresses a notable gap in the literature concerning the subject, offering a valuable source of information for researchers, practitioners, students and interested readers.”
Fortunately for Bruno, and for us, the book lives up to these claims.
Worker co-operatives
It has become customary in the co-op movement to identify four principle types of co-operative enterprise: user; producer; worker; and multistakeholder.
Roelants points out that for at least two centuries – from early examples of attempted co-operative communities from the 17th century onwards – these apparently crisp distinctions did not exist, in theory or practice. It was only from the mid-19th century that they, or at least the first three categories, began to emerge as distinct trends. The Rochdale Pioneers are now seen as the tipping point for the creation of user co-operatives (although Roelants points out some of their founding documents were more open than that).
Although the user, and specifically retail consumer, co-operatives spawned by the Rochdale Pioneers example became the dominant form of co-operativism, worker-owned co-operatives were also there from the start.
One interesting tension with the growing movement was between the consumer co-operatives who mainly wanted to exclude their employees from membership (except as consumers themselves) and those in the workers co-operative movement who were demanding a form of worker-consumer co-ownership model. This dispute lasted until the 1960s when the international co-operative principles tried to reconcile the two approaches. It still exists today.
Convergent co-operatives
Although Roelants does not use the term “institutionalisation”, it is major theme of the book. In his introduction and conclusions he emphasises how the development of internationally agreed standards and values for the co-operative movement as a whole, and worker and social co-operatives in particular, were adopted by trans-national organisations like the United Nations, International Labour Organization and the International Cooperative Alliance. Roelants goes so far as to say that “co-operatives would simply not exist as an international reality if these principles did not exist internationally”.
There is a term for this convergence from organisational theory – it’s called ‘institutional isomorphism’ – the tendency for some organisations with similar characteristics to become ever more similar.
This happens mainly through three mechanisms: coercive isomorphism imposed by external forces or actors – this case international organisations. Mimetic isomorphism is simply the practice of copying from pre-existing organisations. Roelants provides several examples of this in his conclusion. And finally normative isomorphism which comes from shared norms, professional standards and education, which again is evident through many examples in the case studies.
Roelants seems to be suggesting that the international co-operative movement, as a whole, may be moving towards a more convergent future – not just about principles but in practice too. He cites increasing demands and tendencies in those parts of the movement – user/consumer and producer co-ops – that do not currently include workers as members to do so. Is that moving towards more multistakeholder co-operatives?
Several questions arise from this. One is: if the above is true about user and producer co-ops moving towards including worker-members is the reverse true – worker co-ops moving towards stronger engagement with users, customers and producers? Another – which, to be fair, Roelants addresses – is how does this co-operative convergence fit with the growing diversity and inclusion of many different types of social enterprise in what is generally now called the ‘social economy’?
My only criticism of this volume is a lack of engagement with wider social science trends and debates. As with the idea of institutional isomorphism outlined above, there are important discussions, theory development and research going on in other social science fields that could usefully illuminate co-operative developments.
Institutional isomorphism has been around as a theoretical discussion and practical research agenda for well over three decades, in organisational studies, economics and political science.
There are several other ‘lenses’ that might be useful – for example in political science there is a whole research programme around policy transfer – how ideas and reforms spread around the globe. Similarly in management and organisation studies there’s been a long-running set of studies on the diffusion of innovations – which worker co-operatives certainly are.
More engagement between these social science research programmes and the co-operative movement would benefit both.
Herding Cats!
The depth and breadth of this collection is impressive. “Herding cats” is a good way of describing the job of steering a group of over 30 authors from many different countries to produce cases and analyses that fit together.
Having co-edited or co-written several volumes of international comparative analysis myself, I know just how hard that can be. The scope for conceptual, linguistic and cultural misunderstandings is huge.
Bruno Roelants is to be congratulated on managing to steer this successful effort. It will help inform co-operative, and especially worker co-op, theory and practice for many years to come.
