democrat ic p a r t i c i

In this paper, the hypothesis will be presented that the relaxation of the involvement in, and in some cases the withdrawal of external agencies from, the co-operative arena in the Third World might begin to create the preconditions for the real development of a co-operative movement in these countries. [...] Reference is most commonly made to both the charter of the Equitable Pioneers of Rochdale, whose consumer co-operative is often considered as the ‘founding mother of the modern co-operative movement,’5 and the principles 5 Many historians of the co-operative movement, however, acknowledge the fact that co-operation was not an invention of the Rochdale Pioneers and point to the other earlier effort. [...] 2.2 Limitations of the Ideal-Co-operative Perspective The limitations of the ideal-co-operative perspective are multiple and impede an understanding of the heterogeneity of the co-operative sectors in the developing countries, as well as the underlying and determining forces that contributed to the shaping of co-operative sectors or movements in all countries. [...] Invariably, the co-operative sector pushes for a restriction of the so-far excessive power of the registrar of co-operatives (e.g., in the Anglophone Caribbean, Indonesia, and India) or even the introduction of the notion of subsidiarity (e.g., the Philippines). [...] The group that is responsible for the reconciliation of the three forces is that of the ‘social movement entrepreneurs.’ They steer the movement, taking into account the internal dynamics of the movement as well as the external environment, and make the necessary strategic and tactical choices.