Richard Simmons

THE CO-OPERATIVE REFORM PROCESS IN TANZANIA AND SRI LANKA

This article reports on findings from a three year study of co-operatives in Sri Lanka and Tanzania. The article asks three questions: why do co-operative sectors need reforming; what is the co-operative reform process; and why has reform succeeded in some countries but not others? It provides a short history of co-operatives in three phases: the colonial period, the post-colonial nationalist period and the period of market liberalisation. It shows that the control exercised by colonial governments was deepened under nationalist governments, with co-operatives becoming parastatals. Liberalisation brought a sustained attempt by international agencies to reassert the distinctive nature of co-operatives as member-owned businesses. However, co-ops were ill-prepared to adjust to a competitive market and the lifting of government regulation; many failed, some were corrupted, while a few became truly member-controlled. The article draws on documentary analysis and key informant interviews to provide accounts of the reform process in Tanzania and Sri Lanka. It finds that the process is incomplete and often contested. Copyright

A Conceptual Framework for Research into Co-Operative Enterprise

This paper outlines a conceptual framework for approaching research into the co-operative enterprise business model and its sustainability. The model examines the co-op from three perspectives, that of the member, that of the co-op as a business entity, and the wider systems level. Key units of analysis for each level are outlined. Also considered within the model are three primary objectives for the co-op: the need to build identity; the need to build social capital and the need to build sustainability. The application of resilience architecture to help understand the dynamic behavior of the co-operative enterprise over time is also discussed.

Vocational education teacher training in Scotland and England: policy and practice

This article compares and contrasts the policy context of Vocational Education Teacher Training (VETT) in Scotland and England by setting this within its wider socio‐economic context, one emphasising lifelong learning and competitiveness. This facilitates a comparison of the two nations and enables an analysis of VETT responses to globalisation and lifelong learning. It allows an exploration of policy continuities and breaks across Scotland and England, leading to a consideration of the limits and possibilities of the different ‘solutions’ adopted. In these nations VETT is somewhat marginal having only recently become mandatory, unlike many other European responses. The articles policy analysis is complemented by a small scale illuminative case study of VETT educators in Scotland and England, which explores the way policy is lived and mediated at the site of practice. The research suggests that whilst both systems are compromised, VETT educators seek to work on the ‘good’ side of the system in which they are placed.

User Voice and Complaints as Drivers of Innovation in Public Services

ABSTRACT User voice and complaints can serve as important inputs to innovation in public services. User knowledge can be harnessed to provide insights and ideas that prompt more effective service responses and add value to service delivery. However, the mechanisms for harnessing user voice and complaints are often not fully understood, and their potential is often underdeveloped. This paper elaborates a conceptual framework which maps the processes by which user voice and complaints might prompt effective public service innovation. Six practical real-world examples are then presented and analysed to illuminate discussion of some critical success factors for consumer-knowledge-enabled innovation.

RemIX: A Distributed Internet Exchange for Remote and Rural Networks

The concept of the \ac{IXP}, an Ethernet fabric central to the structure of the global Internet, is largely absent from the development of community-driven collaborative network infrastructure. The reasons for this are two-fold. \acp{IXP} exist in central, typically urban, environments where strong network infrastructure ensures high levels of connectivity. Between rural and remote regions, where networks are separated by distance and terrain, no such infrastructure exists. In this paper we present RemIX a distributed \acp{IXP} architecture designed for the community network environment. We examine this praxis using an implementation in Scotland, with suggestions for future development and research.

Credit Co-operatives in Serbia: Retrospect and Prospect

This chapter takes an overview of credit co-operatives in Serbia in retrospect and prospect. It starts by examining the legal frameworks that have regulated their work, from the first Law on agricultural and handicraft co-operatives from 1898, through to the most recent Law on Banks from 2005. It moves on to consider different phases of development of credit co-operatives; before the second world war (when numbers peaked during the 1930s); during the post-war period (when the sector declined in the face of state socialism); and during the more recent period of transition (leading to the dissolution of credit co-operatives in 2005). To conclude the paper, the current situation (which places significant legal obstacles in the way of credit co-operatives) is then assessed and the possibility of the revitalization of credit co-operatives is considered. Special attention will be given to how the revitalization of credit co-operatives might play a role in the survival and effectiveness of other co-operative sectors in Serbia, particularly agriculture (since agricultural co-operatives account for 67 % of the total number of registered co-operatives in Serbia today). This analysis suggests that the situation is now critical, and an urgent review of the current position is required.

The Role and Potential of Co-Operatives in the Poverty Reduction Process

Since the ex-colonial countries gained their freedom, there has been a constant search for a development ‘magic formula’ of sustained economic growth with poverty reduction. A recent emphasis has been on group-based lending to poor people (in particular to women) in the expectation that this would enable them to trade their way out of poverty. However, problems with the sustainability of NGO-led lending, within the context of the World Bank’s emphasis on the need for financial deepening (2007), have led to a renewed interest in savings and credit co-operatives. The Bank’s World Development Report 2008 shifts the emphasis to improving the output of rural economies, the organisational vehicle for which is recognised to be a farmers’ association. In both cases, the solution being proposed is some kind of co-operative. Co-operatives operate according to principles established by the Rochdale Pioneers in 1844 and updated by the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) in 1995. The ICA defines a co-operative as: An autonomous association of persons united voluntarily to meet their common economic, social and cultural needs and aspirations, through a jointly owned and democratically controlled enterprise (1995).