IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/p/hal/journl/hal-04576634.html
   My bibliography  Save this paper

Bringing democracy to life in cooperatives: ongoing experiments. The cases of Railcoop and SmartCoop

Author

Listed:
  • Justine Monique Florine Ballon
  • Thomas Blondeel
  • Marius Chevallier

    (GEOLAB - Laboratoire de Géographie Physique et Environnementale - UBP - Université Blaise Pascal - Clermont-Ferrand 2 - IR SHS UNILIM - Institut Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société - UNILIM - Université de Limoges - UCA [2017-2020] - Université Clermont Auvergne [2017-2020] - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne, GEOLAB-CE - Capital Environnemental - GEOLAB - Laboratoire de Géographie Physique et Environnementale - UBP - Université Blaise Pascal - Clermont-Ferrand 2 - IR SHS UNILIM - Institut Sciences de l'Homme et de la Société - UNILIM - Université de Limoges - UCA [2017-2020] - Université Clermont Auvergne [2017-2020] - CNRS - Centre National de la Recherche Scientifique - UCA - Université Clermont Auvergne)

  • Orville Pletschette

Abstract

This paper examines the democratic governance of large cooperatives (in terms of number of members) through the prism of systems and practices designed to strengthen member participation. We compare the evolution of formal and informal mechanisms supporting the dynamics of participative democracy at Railcoop and SmartCoop. This research is based on an ongoing action-research based on statistics and qualitative data. It sheds light on their practices, the tensions encountered and the experiments undertaken to reduce them. This working paper puts into perspective the initial results of a descriptive and comparative analysis of two schemes designed to increase member participation: circles at Railcoop and the Smart in Progress process at SmartCoop. In this respect, we demonstrate the importance of ongoing reflexivity on our practices, through surveys, collective writing, and spaces conducive to critical and contradictory discussions, provided this is done in a constructive and transparent manner. Beyond this, we show the value of highlighting the 5th and 6th principles of ICA - education, training and information on the one hand, and intercooperation on the other - between two cooperatives sharing issues relating to governance and democratic participation.

Suggested Citation

  • Justine Monique Florine Ballon & Thomas Blondeel & Marius Chevallier & Orville Pletschette, 2023. "Bringing democracy to life in cooperatives: ongoing experiments. The cases of Railcoop and SmartCoop," Post-Print hal-04576634, HAL.
    • Handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04576634
    Note: View the original document on HAL open archive server: https://hal.science/hal-04576634
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://hal.science/hal-04576634/document
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Roger Spear, 2004. "Governance in Democratic Member‐Based Organisations," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(1), pages 33-60, March.
    2. La Manufacture Coopérative & Petia Koleva & Thomas Lamarche & Yorgos Rizopoulos, 2014. "Faire société : le choix des coopératives," Post-Print halshs-01009323, HAL.
    3. Julien Charles & Isabelle Ferreras & Auriane Lamine, 2020. "A freelancers’ cooperative as a case of democratic institutional experimentation for better work: a case study of SMart-Belgium," Transfer: European Review of Labour and Research, , vol. 26(2), pages 157-174, May.
    4. Chris Cornforth, 2004. "The Governance of cooperatives and mutual associations: a paradox perspective," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 75(1), pages 11-32, March.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Sacchetti, Silvia & Tortia, Ermanno, 2012. "The internal and external governance of cooperatives: the effective membership and consistency of value," AICCON Working Papers 111-2012, Associazione Italiana per la Cultura della Cooperazione e del Non Profit.
    2. Michael Kopel & Marco Marini, 2014. "Strategic delegation in consumer cooperatives under mixed oligopoly," Journal of Economics, Springer, vol. 113(3), pages 275-296, November.
    3. Marco A. MARINI & Paolo POLIDORI & Desiree TEOBALDELLI & Alberto ZEVI, 2015. "Welfare Enhancing Coordination In Consumer Cooperatives Under Mixed Oligopoly," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 86(3), pages 505-527, September.
    4. Stéphane Jaumier, 2016. "Preventing chiefs from being chiefs: An ethnography of a co-operative sheet-metal factory," Post-Print hal-01366601, HAL.
    5. Silvia Sacchetti & Ermanno C. Tortia, 2013. "The Internal and External Governance of Cooperatives: Membership and Consistency of Values," Euricse Working Papers 1362, Euricse (European Research Institute on Cooperative and Social Enterprises).
    6. Mr. Wim Fonteyne, 2007. "Cooperative Banks in Europe—Policy Issues," IMF Working Papers 2007/159, International Monetary Fund.
    7. Michael KOPEL & Marco A. MARINI, 2016. "Organization And Governance In Social Economy Enterprises: An Introduction," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 87(3), pages 309-313, December.
    8. Imanol Basterretxea & Chris Cornforth & Iñaki Heras-Saizarbitoria, 2022. "Corporate governance as a key aspect in the failure of worker cooperatives," Economic and Industrial Democracy, Department of Economic History, Uppsala University, Sweden, vol. 43(1), pages 362-387, February.
    9. Grashuis, Jasper & Cook, Michael, 2016. "Capital, Ownership, and Governance: Analyzing the Structure of U.S. Farmer Cooperatives," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235677, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    10. Bernardi, Andrea, 2007. "The Cooperative Organization: Economic, Organisational and Policy Issues," AICCON Working Papers 42-2007, Associazione Italiana per la Cultura della Cooperazione e del Non Profit.
    11. Stéphane Jaumier, 2016. "Preventing chiefs from being chiefs: An ethnography of a co-operative sheet-metal factory," Grenoble Ecole de Management (Post-Print) hal-01366601, HAL.
    12. Mersland, Roy, 2009. "The Cost of Ownership in Microfinance Organizations," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 37(2), pages 469-478, February.
    13. Grashuis, Jasper & Cook, Michael, 2016. "Governance and Performance in the U.S. Agri-Food Industry: A Comparative Study of Firms and Cooperatives," 2016 Annual Meeting, July 31-August 2, Boston, Massachusetts 235676, Agricultural and Applied Economics Association.
    14. Carmen Guzmán & Francisco J. Santos & María de la O. Barroso, 2020. "Analysing the links between cooperative principles, entrepreneurial orientation and performance," Small Business Economics, Springer, vol. 55(4), pages 1075-1089, December.
    15. Saïsset, L.A., 2017. "From Val d’Orbieu to InVivo Wine: the emergence of new ways of strategic partnership and governance in French wine industry," Working Papers MoISA 201703, UMR MoISA : Montpellier Interdisciplinary center on Sustainable Agri-food systems (social and nutritional sciences): CIHEAM-IAMM, CIRAD, INRAE, L'Institut Agro, Montpellier SupAgro, IRD - Montpellier, France.
    16. Sagebiel, Julian & Müller, Jakob R. & Rommel, Jens, 2013. "Are Consumers Willing to Pay More for Electricity from Cooperatives? Results from an Online Choice Experiment in Germany," MPRA Paper 52385, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    17. Yildiz, Özgür & Rommel, Jens & Debor, Sarah & Holstenkamp, Lars & Mey, Franziska & Müller, Jakob R. & Radtke, Jörg & Rognli, Judith, 2014. "Research Perspectives on Renewable Energy Cooperatives in Germany: Empirical Insights and Theoretical Lenses," MPRA Paper 55931, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    18. Hakelius, Karin & Hansson, Helena, 2016. "Members’ attitudes towards cooperatives and their perception of agency problems," International Food and Agribusiness Management Review, International Food and Agribusiness Management Association, vol. 19(4), October.
    19. Harri Talonen & Antti Talonen & Jari Stenvall & Tony Kinder, 2021. "Communicating Customer Ownership in Annual Reports: Perspective of Hedonic Value," FIIB Business Review, , vol. 10(2), pages 120-132, June.
    20. Miguel Cunha & Arménio Rego & Antonino Vaccaro, 2014. "Organizations as Human Communities and Internal Markets: Searching for Duality," Journal of Business Ethics, Springer, vol. 120(4), pages 441-455, April.

    More about this item

    Keywords

    cooperative governance; democracy; participation; experimentation; action-research; democracy cooperative; social innovations;
    All these keywords.

    NEP fields

    This paper has been announced in the following NEP Reports:

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:hal:journl:hal-04576634. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: CCSD (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://hal.archives-ouvertes.fr/ .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.