Rochdale neutrality

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As Rochdale neutrality refers to the principle of political and religious neutrality of cooperatives as a means to economic self-help, that of the upright pioneers of Rochdale was coined. They are part of the Rochdal principles .

The principle of Rochdale neutrality corresponds to the politically moderate and open membership-oriented British cooperative tradition. It had a significant impact on the cooperative development in other European countries, especially Scandinavia, especially through George Jacob Holyoake's writing about the Rochdal pioneers.

Around 1900, however, the politically neutral British cooperative model was challenged by the heavily politicized Belgian cooperative model, which aimed for close interactions and synergies by including the consumer cooperatives as a branch of the labor movement . (The Vooruit (Gent), for example, had a role model here ). Economic, political and educational institutions were often located here in close spatial proximity (see Volksheim ). In the course of time, however, the close ties between the consumer cooperatives and left-wing parties and trade unions turned out to be politically and economically risky (division of the cooperative-accessible population potential, costly support for strikes, hostility of political opponents, etc.). The principle of (formal) Rochdale neutrality therefore asserted itself around 1930 even in cooperative movements, which de facto maintained a close relationship with certain political groups of the moderate left.

literature

  • George Jacob Holyoake : History of the Honest Pioneers of Rochdale , published by H. Häntschke - 1888
  • Barbara J. Blaszak: George Jacob Holyoake (1817-1906) and the Development of the British Cooperative Movement , Edwin Mellen Press, 1988
  • Johann Brazda, Robert Schediwy (Hg): Consumer Co-operatives in a Changing World , (2 vol.) Geneva 1989
  • Erwin Hasselmann: The Rochdaler principles through the ages , publications of the Deutsche Genossenschaftskasse Volume 4, Frankfurt am Main 1968
  • Helmut Faust: History of the cooperative movement: origin and path of the cooperatives in the German-speaking area , F. Knapp, 1965
  • Vahan Totomianz: Fundamentals of Cooperatives, 2nd edition published by P. Parey, 1929
  • Emil Vandevelde: The socialist cooperatives in Belgium in: Archives for social legislation and statistics, 1893 S 303ff
  • Emil Vandervelde: Neutral and Socialist Cooperative Movement , Stuttgart 1914