Inclusive Development and Co-operatives

Alexander Borda-Rodriguez and Hazel Johnson ()
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Alexander Borda-Rodriguez: The Open University
Hazel Johnson: The Open University

The European Journal of Development Research, 2020, vol. 32, issue 4, No 8, 976-997

Abstract: Abstract This article considers the proposition made by many international organisations that co-operatives promote inclusive development. The article examines this proposition through an analysis of field data from two large co-operative unions and their wider contextual setting in Malawi. Positing that low-income and disadvantaged people are adversely included rather than excluded from development, the article analyses the potential of, and the challenges facing, co-operatives in improving conditions for their members. The analysis focusses on the dimensions of economic control, voice and agency, and shows that co-operatives can promote inclusion. However, co-operatives are inevitably influenced by the wider context in which they are constituted and are therefore part of an ongoing, and often contradictory, process of change. These dynamics need to be understood and addressed by members, co-operative leaders and policy-makers alike, as well as international organisations supporting co-operative development.

Keywords: Inclusive development; Co-operatives; Malawi; Economic control; Voice; Agency (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2020
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DOI: 10.1057/s41287-019-00249-9

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