Origin and development of the cooperative principle of concern for community

Abstract

In 1995, the International Co-operative Alliance, through the Statement on the Cooperative Identity, carried out the last worldwide revision of the cooperative principles and values, recognising for the first time the principle of concern for community as an autonomous and independent principle. However, given the virtual absence of studies on this principle, it seems that this principle has scarcely achieved any relevance in the scientific community. This lack of attention to the principle of concern for community may lead to certain disadvantages. The same Statement states that all the principles are interlinked, must be respected and must be present in the actions of cooperatives. Applying this idea to the current situation, it can be deduced that if the principle of concern for community is not investigated, it will probably not be properly applied in cooperatives, and if it is not applied, the rest of the principles will suffer. In view of these circumstances, it is of interest to carry out a study of the principle of concern for community in order to understand what this principle consists of and what actions form part of it. To this purpose, we will start by examining its presumed presence and application in the experiences and ideas of the precursors of modern cooperativism, such as Owen, Fourier, King, Rochdale, Schultze-Delitzsch and Raiffeisen, among others, and we will continue with an analysis of its evolution within the ICA, until we arrive at the current interpretation of the principle.