Consumers against capitalism? : consumer cooperation in Europe, North America, and Japan, 1840-1990 / edited by Ellen Furlough and Carl Strikwerda.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Furlough, Ellen, 1953-

Strikwerda, Carl.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Consumer cooperatives--History.

Consumer cooperatives.

History.

Physical Description:

viii, 377 pages ; 24 cm

Place of Publication:

Lanham, Md. : Rowman & Littlefield Publishers, [1999]

Summary:

There is a growing scholarly interest in the historical development of what has been called a "consumer society." In this important collection of essays, historians from six different countries trace the history of the consumer cooperative movement in much of western Europe and North America from its inception to the present. The consumer cooperative, as the contributors show, bears directly on the role of socialist parties, the nascent feminist movement, and conceptions of the worker's role in a changing economy and society in the 19th and 20th centuries. The first book to explore consumer cooperation on a comparative, international level, Consumers Against Capitalism fills a significant gap in the literature of labor history. It also makes a significant contribution to the literature on consumerism and capitalist culture. It is essential reading for students and scholars of labor history, women's history, and social movements.

Contents:

1 Economics, Consumer Culture, and Gender: An Introduction to the Politics of Consumer Cooperation / Ellen Furlough, Carl Strikwerda 1

2 "Alternative Visions" and Working-Class Culture: The Political Economy of Consumer Cooperation in Belgium, 1860-1980 / Carl Strikwerda 67

3 The Citizen Producer: The Rise and Fall of Working-Class Cooperatives in the United States / Steven Leikin 93

4 From Cooperative Commonwealth to Cooperative Democracy: The American Cooperative Ideal, 1880-1940 / Kathleen Donohue 115

5 Labor's Great Arch: Cooperation and Cultural Revolution in Britain, 1795-1926 / Peter Gurney 135

6 French Consumer Cooperation, 1885-1930: From the "Third Pillar" of Socialism to "A Movement for All Consumers" / Ellen Furlough 173

7 From Self-Help to Konzern: Consumer Cooperatives in Austria, 1840-1990 / Gabriella Hauch 191

8 Between Farmers and Workers: Consumer Cooperation in Denmark, 1850-1940 / Niels Finn Christiansen 221

9 Swedish Consumer Cooperation as an Educational Endeavor / Peder Alex 241

10 The Rise and Fall of Consumer Cooperation in Germany / Brett Fairbairn 267

11 The Consumer Co-op in Japan: Building Democratic Alternatives to State-Led Capitalism / Ruth Grubel 303

12 Of Spheres, Perspectives, Cultures, and Stages: The Consumer Co-operative Movement in English-Speaking Canada, 1830-1980 / Ian MacPherson 331.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages [359]-367) and index.

ISBN:

0847686485

0847686493

OCLC:

40043484