Cooperatives can be the most wonderful way to organise social life and ensure dignified livelihoods provided these are voluntary and mutual. Business cooperatives for any economic activity can immensely benefit all its members and compete well with even giant corporations. In particular, milk cooperatives and self-help groups in India have amply proved this. The way can be extended to social living by integrating individuals and families into caring communities. However, it would require setting norms for combining individual freedom and community responsibilities and a smooth procedure for joining and exiting a community.
Cooperatives fit perfectly in a capitalist order as the cooperatives may work as productive units of the economy while doing away with many probable ills of capitalist centralisation or even democratic centralisation.
Niraj Kumar Jha
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