The Co Operative Movement In Italy

This title, originally published in 1925, provides a scientific exploration of some of the forms of co-operative organisation which had attained considerable development in other countries, but were little known to English students of the movement. This account of the co-operative movement in Italy will be of interest to students of economic democracy and economic history.

Excerpt from The Cooperative Movement in Jugoslavia, Rumania and North Italy: During and After the World War The following studies of the cooperative movement in Serbia and Rumania during and after the War are the outcome of an investigation undertaken by me at the instigation in the first instance and with the financial support of the Horace Plunkett Foundation Trust and the English Labour Research Department. The preparation of a report for the Carnegie Endowment for International Peace enabled me to extend the time and scope of my investigation. I had originally intended to make a full inquiry into Italian cooperation, but I found that were I to attempt this I should have to devote six months or a year to Italy alone. The extraordinary number of cooperative organizations in Italy and the wide range of their activities arc such that no one could attempt to speak with authority who had not spent a very long time in the country and who did not speak Italian almost as his native language. I therefore attempted only a cursory view of Italian cooperation and have appended a few brief and inadequate notes of what I saw in Italy. My investigations in Jugoslavia and Rumania were far more fruitful, and I think I may claim to give a fairly comprehensive view of cooperative conditions in these countries. I have not seen any accounts of them which give as general a description as I have attempted, and therefore 1 hope that the rcadec will find matter which will interest him. I had originally intended to return to Ireland through Hungary, Austria and Czechoslovakia, but the fates decided against this. My companion on the journey was an Irish agriculturist, Mr. A. Vcre O'Brien, whose practical knowledge of farming was of great assistance to me. Unfortunately, he became seriously ill, which necessitated the curtailment of my plans. After a month in a hospital at Brasov (Cronstadt) he became well enough to travel again. But traveling in Eastern Europe was very difficult. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

This book arises from a three-year comparative research program concerning co-operative enterprises in Australia and Italy. The book explores the historical development, legal framework and the peak organisations of co-operatives in the two countries. Specific comparative chapters focus on consumer, credit, and worker-producer co-operatives. The book deepens the analysis of co-operatives by containing chapters that examine specific theoretical and empirical issues such as the theory of co-operative firms as collective entrepreneurial action. Monographic chapters include more in depth analysis of specific typologies of co-operatives, such as social and community oriented co-operatives, some of which were created to contrast organized crime in Southern Italy. The book concludes with an assessment of the implications of the project for public policy.

This insightful study of the co-operative movement in France and Italy provides valuable insights into the history and philosophy of this important social and economic movement. With clear and accessible prose, this book is a must-read for anyone interested in the history of social and economic thought. This work has been selected by scholars as being culturally important, and is part of the knowledge base of civilization as we know it. This work is in the "public domain in the United States of America, and possibly other nations. Within the United States, you may freely copy and distribute this work, as no entity (individual or corporate) has a copyright on the body of the work. Scholars believe, and we concur, that this work is important enough to be preserved, reproduced, and made generally available to the public. We appreciate your support of the preservation process, and thank you for being an important part of keeping this knowledge alive and relevant.

This volume represents the first in-depth study in the English language of the Italian cooperative movement - the largest in Europe with over 70,000 active cooperatives. In the region of Emilia Romagna alone they produce close to 25% of the regional GDP. In particular, he examines the history, the values, the strategy, organisational structure and culture of La Lega (The National League of Cooperatives) which associates 11,000 cooperatives from all sectors employing 220,000 people and as a group of enterprises have become Italy's fourth largest export earner. It is the sheer size and success of these cooperatives that provides practical proof that there is an alternative to private enterprise capitalism namely democratic, collectively owned cooperatives.The main aim of this book is to identify the factors which have enabled cooperatives in Italy to overcome some of the economic and political barriers normally faced by them when competing in Western market economies through an analysis of the relationship that has developed between cooperatives, La Lega and the State.Topics discussed include: an historical overview of cooperative development in Europe and North America; a comparative study of the cooperative sectors in Britain and Mondragon; a discussion on the political and economic barriers faced by cooperatives; an historical analysis of cooperative development in Italy; an explanation of how La Lega operates and how it represents cooperatives' interests in the economic, political and social sphere; original case studies of cooperatives and consortia explain how financial, management and other barriers have been overcome; and, finally, an extensive discussion on the specific character of the Italian State and an explanation of why and when the State is most likely to support cooperatives.