Rita Rhodes, a prominent co-operative educationist, author and historian has died, aged 90.
Born on 28 December 1934 in Rayleigh, Essex, UK, Dr Rhodes was surrounded by co-operation from an early age. She studied at the Co-operative College and was section educational officer at the UK’s Co-operative Union (now Co-operatives UK) in the late 1970s, before taking on similar roles at the National Co-operative Development Agency and the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA).
At the ICA, she took the role of education officer and later secretary to its Women’s Committee, before taking a post as lecturer in co-operative studies at the University of Ulster. After gaining her PhD – in the history of the ICA – she became a visiting research fellow at the Co-operatives Research Unit of the Open University, presenting papers to many ICA research conferences. She undertook assignments in Malaysia, Sri Lanka, Egypt and Mongolia, was twice chair of the UK Society for Co-operative Studies, and was appointed a fellow of the Plunkett Foundation.
Dr Rhodes wrote a number of co-operative histories including The International Co-operative Alliance During War and Peace 1910-1950 (ICA Publications, 1995), A Thematic Guide to ICA Congresses 1895-1995 (with Professor Dionysos Mavrogiannis; ICA Publications 1996), An Arsenal for Labour (Holyoake Books 1998) and Empire and Co-operation (John Donald 2012).
Her final book was Co-operative Adventures – we joined the Co-op and saw the world (Amazon, 2020), which depicts disparate aspects of postwar co-operation, alongside co-operative adventures she and her husband Bernard experienced around the world. Rita and Bernard were married for 45 years before his early death in 2005. His own co-operative career included a stint with the former Scottish CWS, and roles at the Co-operative Union, including parliamentary secretary.
“The Co-op has always been part of my life,” she said, in what would be her final interview, with Anthony Taylor and Antony McMullen last year. “My mother did her weekly shop at the stores and I accompanied as a child. We lived in a small town of around 9,000 and many of its communal activities took place in the Co-op Hall behind the stores.”
Her family were members of the London Co-operative Society, and Rhodes became active in its political activities in 1950 and 1951, becoming the country’s youngest election agent in 1955.
Until her hospital admittance at the end of 2024, Dr Rhodes was active on social media, expressing opinions and engaging in lively debates. She was vocal in her criticisms of co-ops not adhering to core values and principles and was devastated at the loss of the Co-op College’s Stamford Hall. And she kept her sharp observations on politics and international co-operation in full force.
“I believe the ICA should reaffirm its historic stance that governments might be needed to sensitise populations as to the merits of co-operatives and assist in their early development but should withdraw as soon as feasible,” she said last year.
“To reaffirm this position could help the Alliance take the lead in a dramatically changing world, particularly with climate and ecology. Elements in this would include the fact that co-operatives comprise members at the local level. Such levels assume increasing importance. Secondly, co-operatives theoretically are not speculative. They meet members’ needs or provide services, but no more. They should not have a profit motive because being mutual and members trading with each other, making a profit out of themselves is pretty silly. Consequently, their demands on crops and husbandry should meet needs but no more. Capitalism is expensive and wasteful.”
Tributes have been made online with friends and former colleagues and pupils remembering her co-operative legacy and scholarly contributions, as well as her passion and generosity.
“Rita Rhodes is a huge loss to the co-operative movement both in the UK and internationally. Hugely knowledgeable and courageous, she was always willing to express her well-informed views to add to important debates – always polite and respectful – she never shied away from issues that needed to be properly considered rather than brushed under the carpet,” said Ian Hewitt, who regularly debated with Rhodes online.
“My co-op career was closely linked to Rita’s and indeed to her late husband, Bernard,” said Iain Macdonald (ICA director general 2002-2010).
“I began working at the Coop Union in Glasgow in 1979 and took over from Rita as the Scottish Section’s education officer. She was, even then, a prominent co-operator and her shoes were very large ones to fill. At the same time Bernard Rhodes was the Scottish secretary – the head of the Co-op Union, now Co-ops UK, in Scotland. They were a formidable co-operative couple!
“She preceded my own involvement with the ICA by 20 years – but her involvement was marked by the fact that she was still held in the highest esteem during my time there.
“Her work in other areas of co-op education was distinguished by her total commitment to women’s rights and co-operative values and principles, as indeed were her published works.
“I regarded Rita as a friend and mentor and I know she leaves a lasting legacy of support and knowledge throughout the co-operative world. She will be badly missed.”
A tribute by the UK Society for Co-operative Studies (UKSCS) highlighted how she “contributed in numerous ways both to UKSCS and the Journal of Co-operative Studies: serving as vice-chair and chair of the society in the early 1980s, producing its early newsletters, as a keynote speaker at the society’s 1986 conference, as a committee member in the 1990s. She was again chair of the society in 2001 when the Plunkett Foundation’s World of Co-operative Enterprise annual publication merged with Journal of Co-operative Studies. Rita acted as reviews editor and contributed articles, reviews, and commentaries to the Journal – her last, a book review, in 2023 […] We are grateful that she leaves a legacy of her work for others to explore.”
Another former ICA director general, Bruno Roelants (2018-2023), believes Dr Rhodes will be remembered as “a fundamental personality in the international co-operative movement”.
“[She] focused a great part of her historical research work on two particularly difficult topics, namely how the co-operative movement relates with war and peace during and around the two world wars on the one hand, and with the British Empire on the other,” he said
“Rita provided us at the ICA global office with key historical inputs in celebrating the 125th anniversary of the ICA in 2020 and in preparing historical publications for the 33rd World Cooperative Congress in 2021.
“I have been in contact with her very recently for a book I am editing and partly writing, to be published soon, for which she has provided me with invaluable historical inputs. She will be sorely missed as one of the key historians of the international co-operative movement, and I will always treasure her memory.”
Dr Rhodes spent her final weeks at Brooklands Nursing Home, Leigh on Sea, after a short illness.
“I would like to thank everyone that has visited Rita, also those who sent messages and cards recently, this really helped her to stay positive during her illness,” said her friend, Chris Waite.
A service will be held to celebrate the life of Rita Rhodes at Our Lady of Ransom Church, 50 London Hill, Rayleigh, Essex. SS6 7HP, on Monday 2 June 2025 at 12pm, followed by a short service at Southend Crematorium, Sutton Road, Southend on Sea, Essex. SS2 5PX at 1:30pm.
You are welcome to attend both services – however, if you are unable to attend either of the services, they will be livestreamed over the internet.
The first service can be found by going to https://olorchurch.org then click or tap the black and white Live stream button.
The second service at Southend Crematorium can be streamed by going to https://watch.obitus.com – type the username tebi0305 and password 354177, then click or tap Log in and Watch. You can check to see if this works by logging in at any time to test the connection.
