Over the last ten years, the Co-operative Movement has been able to count on increasing interest from scientists from various disciplines. While all kinds of social models disappeared along with the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the Co-operative Movement h

Introduction

Over the last ten years, the Co-operative Movement has been able to count on increasing interest from scientists from various disciplines.

While all kinds of social models disappeared along with the collapse of the Berlin Wall, the Co-operative Movement has succeeded in holding its own as the embodiment of a Utopia that is still being pursued worldwide. The co-operative sees itself as a movement with a future, not only in the Third World, but also in Western economies.

Although nobody is ignoring the one-and-a-half century-old tradition of the Co-operative Movement, the movement's past is receiving scant attention in the renewed flow of publications.

Freeing the co-operative from its status as a footnote of social history will not only benefit the current development of the movement, but will also deepen know-how regarding consumption and 'self-help'.

From recent research, it appears that an insight into the size, evolution and operation of the Co-operative Movement is essential for numerous research areas.

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Program

Thursday, 16 October 2003

5.00 p.m.
Welcome
by Prof. Dr. Herman Balthazar, chairman of Amsab-Institute of Social History

5.15 p.m.
Address
by Dr. Wouter Steenhaut, director of Amsab-Institute of Social History

5.30 p.m.
The People's Cinema. Four films of the British Co-operative Movement,
introduced by Dr. Alan Burton, De Monfort University, Leicester, United Kingdom

7.00 p.m.
Reception

 

Friday, 17 October 2003

9.00 a.m.
Opening address
by Dr. Wouter Steenhaut, director of Amsab-Institute of Social History

First session

The comparative history of self-help
General aspects of the co-operative movement in a comparative perspective
chairman: Prof. Dr. Carl Strikwerda, University of Kansas, USA

9.20 a.m.
Structure and scope of consumer co-operation: the German experience in the English mirror
by Dr. Michael Prinz, University of Bielefeld, Germany

9.40 a.m.
The institutional change and consumer co-operatives in a comparative perspective
by Akira Kurimoto, director and chief researcher of Consumer Co-op Institute of Japan

10.00 a.m.
Two phases of consumer co-operation in Scandinavia: pre-war pluralism and post-war unification under social democracy
by Dr. Iselin Theien, Institute for Social Research, Oslo, Norway, and Prof. Dr. Even Lange, University of Oslo, Norway

10.20 a.m.
Discussion

10.40 a.m.
Coffee break

Second session

Aspects of co-operative identity
Co-operatives as creations of alternative states within a state: labour organisations, film, art, architecture, advertisement, and culture in general
chairman: Prof. Dr. Peter Scholliers, Vrije Universiteit Brussel, Belgium

11.10 a.m.
From alternative to trademark: the consumer co-operative movement in Sweden
by Prof. Dr. Peder Aléx, Umeå University, Sweden

11.30 a.m.
How to beat the competition without losing co-operative identity: the case of the Italian consumers co-operatives
by Prof. Dr. Patrizia Battilani, University of Bologna, Italy

11.50 a.m.
The emergence of the identity of the French co-operative consumption between the labour movement and social economy (1890-1914)
by Dr. Patricia Toucas, University of Le Mans, France

12.10 p.m.
Discussion

12.30 p.m.
Lunch break

Third session

Islands of social economy
A middle way between capitalism and socialism. Social-economic aspects of co-operative consumption as an alternative to capitalist economy
chairman: Prof. Dr. Marcel van der Linden, International Institute of Social History, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

13.40 p.m.
Traditional Saving in Kasmoni in Surinam and in the Netherlands
by Dr. Aspha Bijnaar, Nationaal Instituut voor Nederlands Slavernijverleden en Erfenis, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

14.00 p.m.
The marginalisation of the co-operative alternative in Britain (1945-1957)
by Dr. Peter Gurney, University of Essex, United Kingdom

14.20 p.m.
The Future of Consumer Cooperatives in Post-Industrial Societies and a Globalized Economy?
by Prof. Dr. Victor Pestoff, Mid Sweden University, Sweden

14.40 p.m.
Discussion

15.00 p.m.
Coffee break

Fourth session

Co-operatives and politics
Relations between co-operatives and political movements
chairman: Dr. Geert Van Goethem, Amsab-Institute of Social History, Ghent, Belgium

15.40 p.m.
The third pillar: co-operation as a basic building block of social-democracy in Western Europe (c. 1880-1920)
by Dr. Hendrik Defoort, Gent Cultuurstad, Ghent, Belgium

16.00 p.m.
Co-operation and consumer politics in comparative perspective: Britain and Sweden (c. 1900-1920)
by Dr. Mary Hilson, University College London, United Kingdom

16.20 p.m.
Cooperatives and politics in Switzerland
by Dr. Bernard Degen, University of Bern, Switzerland

16.40 p.m.
Discussion

17.00 p.m.
Conclusions
by Prof. Dr. Glenn Rayp, University of Ghent, Belgium

17.30 p.m.
Visit of Amsab-Institute of Social History including guided tour in the exhibition, refreshment

 

Saturday, 18 October 2003

10.30 a.m.
Guided walk in the historic city of Ghent

© 2000 Amsab-Institute of Social History | revised 15-04-2003
info: congress@amsab.be