Homogenization of Enterprises’ Models: Waiving the Cooperative Alternative to Capitalism

Yifat Solel

Research output: Chapter in Book/Report/Conference proceedingChapterpeer-review

Abstract

In order to become a viable alternative, cooperatives must be recognized as a clearly distinct form of enterprise, a clarity that seems to be lacking and decreasing. One of the greatest threats to cooperatives—the legal models and the conceptual essence—is becoming very similar to capital-based companies. The process, which Henry refers to as ‘companization,’ has become so common that its opponents are often referred to as detached purists. This ‘companization’ process is a political act, as the proponents of capitalism argue ‘there is no alternative.’ The crisis of trust that surfaced with COVID-19 relates to both the political and the economic arenas, and particularly to the cooperation between untrusted governments and corporations. This extreme manifestation of a long-time democratic deficiency has a lot to do with the exclusion of democracy from the economic arena, the lack of transparency and the notion that there is nothing capital-based companies will not do in order to maximize profits. This time of crisis might become an opportunity to present vital economic alternatives—not utopian ideas, but long-time operating, clear and distinct forms of people-based democratic organizational and incorporation models, which do not follow the logic and practice of the capital-based company and can offer a viable economic-democratic option for enterprises as well as for a political-economic system.

Original languageEnglish
Title of host publicationPerspectives on Cooperative Law
Subtitle of host publicationFestschrift In Honour of Professor Hagen Henry
PublisherSpringer Nature
Pages173-182
Number of pages10
ISBN (Electronic)9789811919916
ISBN (Print)9789811919909
DOIs
StatePublished - 1 Jan 2022

Bibliographical note

Publisher Copyright:
© The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2022.

ASJC Scopus subject areas

  • General Social Sciences

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