Supportive Cooperative Ecosystems in Spain and the United States

This chapter refers to the supporting environment theory of cooperatives, which posits that success is spurred by the presence of promoters, a good legal and fiscal environment, and government support without government control. It inserts the term “ecosystem” in place of “environment” to foreground the interconnected system dynamics at work in supporting cooperative ecosystems. It also outlines how people launch and grow cooperatives within a particular ecosystem that includes the laws, government programs, and cooperative support organizations that influence them. The chapter mentions the social-movement approach to cooperatives, which suggests that degeneration follows a deemphasis and marginalization of building cohesive networks of apex and sector federations, plans, and proposals for technical and financial assistance. It discusses well-established cooperatives that abandon the mission of developing a cooperative movement in favour of responding to market forces and the individual cooperative's financial goals.