Saturday, 31 May 2014

ACFA: Question About Cooperative. No 3




Question 3: What Helped The Rochdale Pioneers To Succeed, After Learning About The Situation Others Prior To It Previously Faced?

Answer: Instead of the pioneers to be deterred by the hectic situations faced by others that previously existed, the Rochdale Pioneers rather learned from these experiences and ideas and used them to develop a model of co-operation that could be followed by others.
They made this period of early nineteenth century a time of new ideas and rapid change. Many People interested in the survival of cooperatives were writing about and discussing co-operation and how to develop a successful and sustainable co-operatives.

Among these optimistic cooperators are Robert Owen (1771 - 1858) who was latter known as the Father of  Co-operation and was also involved in the trade union movement, introducing infant education to the UK and in setting up co-operative communities. He is probably best known for his work at New Lanark in Scotland.

Another well known advocate of cooperative society is George Jacob Holyoake. (1817 - 1906) George Jacob Holyoake travelled the country during the 1830s talking about co-operation and Robert Owen’s ideas. Holyoake was a great advocate and propagandist for co-operation. His history of the Rochdale Pioneers “Self Help by the People” was published in 1857 and inspired others to follow and set up their own co-operatives.

Among these great supporters of cooperation is Dr William King (1786 - 1865) Dr William King was another advocate of co-operation, seeing it as a means for working people to improve their lives. From 1828 to 1830 King edited “The Co-operator”, sharing experiences and advising on the steps to establish a co-operative. The Rochdale Pioneers studied “The Co-operator” and recognized the importance of learning the lessons of the earlier failures as they developed the principles and practices that ensure their model of a co-operative society was successful.

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