A Comparative Study on Structural Empowerment of Co-Operatives Members in Urban and Rural Setting

Abstract

—The co-operative movement was underpinned by the industrial revolution 1.0, when human power was replaced by machines which then led to urbanization from rural to urban. In the industrial revolution 4.0, human resources will compete with robots, thus the cooperative movement as an effort to adapt to the industrial revolution needs to be evaluated. The purpose of this study was to provide an overview of the structural empowerment of members of co-operatives both in urban and rural areas. The research method used was a survey by collecting structural empowerment scale from 251 co-operative members. Data were analyzed using one-way Analysis of Variance technique. The results showed that the structural empowerment of co-operative members in rural areas was higher compared to urban areas. Women living in rural areas had higher structural empowerment compared to their counterparts in urban areas while men living in urban and rural areas showed no significant difference. Results of this study indicate that co-operatives have become a competent movement for residents living in rural areas, especially rural women.