42nd International Cooperative Seminar "The Unity of the Economic and Social Functions of Cooperatives'' - A Collection of Papers

Abstract

The papers included in this collection are edited versions of papers on the theme ”the Unity of the Economic and Social Functions of Go-operatives” presented at the 42nd International Co-operative Seminar, In preparing them for publication it has been felt useful to arrange them in a rough politico-geographical order rather than in the order in which they were presented. This arrangement recognises the basic differences, and the varying aspirations, in the economic, social and political systems represented, and helps to identify the main areas of common ground. There are of course differences inside each of the groupings. Nevertheless, within the socialist countries, for example, there is sufficient common experience for them to comprehend each other’ s situations together with generally similar lines of development. From that point of view, the papers presented by representatives from the four socialist countries form a natural group. In addition, they have in common a confidence in what has been done, what is being done, and what will be done. The three Asian countries are, on the other hand, a particularly disparate group possessing little in common but a somewhat strsujied geography and some of the characteristics of that much overdone epithet, ”the developing country” . Even allowing that the phrase has any useful meaning, it has to stretch more than somewhat here. Despite considerable development in certain industrial sectors, India is the nearest to the classical sense of that phase ; Israel is a "developing nation” in a very special and unique way ;and Japan can only be included in the rather unusual sense of having had an agricultural sector lagging behind a spectacular industrial development. Finally, the contributions from the western countries reveal a range and variety of views and doubts, Donald Martin’ s characterisation of the American "co-operative movement” in his paper is probably fair comn«nt on all of the west as revealed in these papers.