Stig Westerdahl

Social Economy and New Jobs: A Summary of Twenty Case Studies in European Regions

Social Economy and New Jobs. A Summary of Twenty Case Studies in European Regions. Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics

‘Between Business and Community’: A Rural Co-op and Its Accounting Practice

A rural co-op in the north of Sweden has grown from a tiny development-group to a small business venture with houses, a shop and an old-age home. This progress is here described focusing on the accounting practice. Field-studies, including participatory methods and interviews, depict a co-op torn between their founding ideas on shaping a good life in the area, and an increasing focus on business. This tension is also reflected in their usage of accounting. The conclusion of the study is that identity and accounting are shown to be mutually inter-linked. It is further argued, drawing on ethnomethodological concepts, that the main asset in the development, a community based on trust, cannot be mirrored in the formal accounts. The alternative is approaches more akin to narratives.