Cooperative Entrepreneurialism: Reconciling Democratic Values with Business Demands at a Worker-Owned Firm

Abstract

Existing research on businesses that are both owned and managed by their workers suggests that these firms have one of two kinds of effects for their participants. They either learn to be better citizens of democratic society through daily democratic practice, or they become better capitalists through the daily practice of business ownership. Drawing on data collected through in-depth interviews and participant observation, I argue that cooperative participants learn both things. Furthermore, participants in cooperatives develop a spirit of Cooperative Entrepreneurialism that allows them to engage in free enterprise, while also adhering to the cooperative values of equality and democracy.

Citation

Schoening, J. (2005), "Cooperative Entrepreneurialism: Reconciling Democratic Values with Business Demands at a Worker-Owned Firm", Smith, V. (Ed.) Worker Participation: Current Research and Future Trends (Research in the Sociology of Work, Vol. 16), Emerald Group Publishing Limited, Leeds, pp. 293-315. https://doi.org/10.1016/S0277-2833(06)16011-2