Ethical Consumer magazine of England held an essay contest in 2012 the international year of cooperatives asking people to respond to the question ” is there a cooperative alternative to capitalism”?
Nearly fifty entries were received from all over the world. The most interesting essays were published in the form of a book titled ”people over capital-the cooperative alternative to capitalism’.
The book offers a lively debate on the role the cooperative movement could play in the present beleaguered world economy. According to Mayo secretary general of cooperatives UK, coops employ 100 million people, 20 percent more than multi-national corporations and some 300 leading coops in the world boast an annual turnover of over 1 trillion dollars.
While a couple of authors in the book have expressed apprehension warning scaled up coops could turn out to be as dangerous or harmful as transnational, some have gone so far as to dismiss the cooperative movement as a mere walk- on part on the global economic stage.
One contributor even argued for abandoning the very idea of cooperative as there are shining examples of private companies working with a progressive, social and environmental agenda.
However, the message that comes loud and clear from the book is : cooperative values and norms are more relevant than ever for ensuring a shared prosperity and a sustainable world economy.