Consumer Co-operation in a Changing Economy: The case of Argentina

Abstract

In Argentina, co-operatives were originally boosted by the immigration processes that strengthened the development of trade unions and politics, as well as working-class solidarity that favored the creation of primary co-operatives in almost every sector of activity. Starting with an analysis of the economic and social role played by the movement?s main experiences in the twentieth century, this work considers the development of consumer co-operatives, focusing on the trajectory of two of its main representative societies, and on the nature of the integration process they promoted.In Argentina, consumer co-operatives played a significant role in improving the quality of life of their members and consolidating the co-operative movement as a whole throughout the twentieth century. In the 1960s, they faced economic and political instability, and the emergence of the supermarket industry in the country. The search for mechanisms to solve this situation led to the adoption of different strategies: integration, interruption of the activities or even the adoption of commercial strategies, renouncing in some cases to the co-operative way.