Uploaded January 2018 | Updated September 2026, 2 weeks ago
As we have seen, degeneration is a real possibility as well as a theoretical one. So does this mean that the cooperative sector is doomed to remain marginal at best?
The video looks at evidence that a number of countries have thriving worker cooperative sectors. But it would also be unwise on that basis to simply dismiss concerns about the viability of cooperatives. The video looks at the evidence that some of the problems facing cooperatives - particularly with regard to the creation of new ones - have been successfully solved by the institutional arrangements of the group of cooperatives in the Basque city of Mondragon in Spain.
The approach in Mondragon has been to create a cooperative bank at the heart of the network of worker cooperatives. Pooling deposits from both cooperative employees and bank members from all over Spain, this institution is able to provide finance and technical assistance to people interested in setting up new cooperatives.
Additionally, the group prevents various forms of degeneration by making it impossible for cooperative employees to sell their shares, and by limiting the proportion of the workforce that can be made up of hired, non-member workers (although it is also true that the latter proportions have been rising, reaching 30% and even in some cases 40% - a practice that threatens to dilute the cooperative character of the organization and lead to full-fledged degeneration if left unchecked).
As we have seen, degeneration is a real possibility as well as a theoretical one. So does this mean that the cooperative sector is doomed to remain marginal at best?
The video looks at evidence that a number of countries have thriving worker cooperative sectors. But it would also be unwise on that basis to simply dismiss concerns about the viability of cooperatives. The video looks at the evidence that some of the problems facing cooperatives - particularly with regard to the creation of new ones - have been successfully solved by the institutional arrangements of the group of cooperatives in the Basque city of Mondragon in Spain.
The approach in Mondragon has been to create a cooperative bank at the heart of the network of worker cooperatives. Pooling deposits from both cooperative employees and bank members from all over Spain, this institution is able to provide finance and technical assistance to people interested in setting up new cooperatives.
Additionally, the group prevents various forms of degeneration by making it impossible for cooperative employees to sell their shares, and by limiting the proportion of the workforce that can be made up of hired, non-member workers (although it is also true that the latter proportions have been rising, reaching 30% and even in some cases 40% - a practice that threatens to dilute the cooperative character of the organization and lead to full-fledged degeneration if left unchecked).
