{"title":"The Role of Co-operatives in Transforming Cuba’s Economy","authors":"S. Novkovic","doi":"10.1163/9789004361720_012","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"Cuba’s experiment with co-operativism within a socialist economic system offers important lessons for the co-operative movement. Co-operatives as defined by the International Co-operative Alliance Statement of Co-operative Identity (ica.coop) typically function within capitalist market systems where they face pressures from competition with investor owned businesses, and institutions designed to support and protect investors. Co-operatives often face isomorphism, they may encounter barriers accessing finance, and they may succumb to capitalist market logic in their hierarchical governance systems. Co-operatives in capitalism often identify as non-capitalist or anti-capitalist, but rarely as socialist. This chapter explores the underlying features of socialist co-operatives, and discusses the role of co-operatives in the Cuban transformation of its socioeconomic model. The particular emphasis is on the ability of co-operatives to maintain focus on human development, thereby continuing the legacy of the Cuban Revolution.","PeriodicalId":296171,"journal":{"name":"Co-operativism and Local Development in Cuba","volume":"140 1","pages":"0"},"PeriodicalIF":0.0000,"publicationDate":"2018-08-02","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"Co-operativism and Local Development in Cuba","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004361720_012","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"","JCRName":"","Score":null,"Total":0}
引用次数: 0
Abstract
Cuba’s experiment with co-operativism within a socialist economic system offers important lessons for the co-operative movement. Co-operatives as defined by the International Co-operative Alliance Statement of Co-operative Identity (ica.coop) typically function within capitalist market systems where they face pressures from competition with investor owned businesses, and institutions designed to support and protect investors. Co-operatives often face isomorphism, they may encounter barriers accessing finance, and they may succumb to capitalist market logic in their hierarchical governance systems. Co-operatives in capitalism often identify as non-capitalist or anti-capitalist, but rarely as socialist. This chapter explores the underlying features of socialist co-operatives, and discusses the role of co-operatives in the Cuban transformation of its socioeconomic model. The particular emphasis is on the ability of co-operatives to maintain focus on human development, thereby continuing the legacy of the Cuban Revolution.