Co-operatives Today
Co-operative communities are now widespread, with one of the largest and most successful examples being the Mondragón Cooperative Corporation in the Basque country of Spain. Co-operatives were also successful in Yugoslavia under Tito where Workers' Councils gained a significant role in management.
In many European countries, cooperative institutions have a predominant market share in the retail banking and insurance businesses.
In the UK, co-operatives formed the Co-operative Party in the early 20th century to represent members of co-ops in Parliament. The Co-operative Party now has a permanent electoral pact with the Labour Party, and some Labour MPs are Co-operative Party members. UK co-operatives retain a significant market share in food retail, insurance, banking, funeral services, and the travel industry in many parts of the country.
Denmark has had a strong cooperative movement.
In Colorado, the Meadowlark cooperative administers the only private free land program in the United States, providing many services to its members who buy and sell together.
In the United States there are over 29,000 co-operatives employing 2 million people with over $652 billion in annual revenue.
Read more about this topic: History Of The Cooperative Movement
Famous quotes containing the word today:
“A new world is not made simply by trying to forget the old. A new world is made with a new spirit, with new values. Our world may have begun that way, but today it is caricatural. Our world is a world of things.... What we dread most, in the face of the impending débâcle, is that we shall be obliged to give up our gewgaws, our gadgets, all the little comforts that have made us so uncomfortable.... We are not peaceful souls; we are smug, timid, queasy and quakey.”
—Henry Miller (18911980)