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Imperial cooperative experiments and global market capitalism, c.1900–c.1960

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  08 July 2019

Nikolay Kamenov
Nikolay Kamenov*
Affiliation:
Graduate Institute, Geneva, Case postale 1672, 1211 Geneva 1, Switzerland
*
Corresponding author. Email: nkamenov@gmail.com
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Abstract

Concentrating on the connection between the cooperative movements in colonial India and Ghana, the article has two aims. First, it counters the diffusionist story portraying the cooperative institution as indigenous to Europe, from where it was exported to the rest of the world. Second, it draws attention to the contribution and overall importance of cooperatives in the global market economy. Pursuing these two aims, and following a review of the existing literature, the article discusses the development of the cooperative movement in British India between 1900 and 1950. It then turns to the global establishment of the Indian experience as a role model for other colonial regions, notably West Africa. The article then considers the practical implementation of cooperatives in the Gold Coast and Ashanti (both now in Ghana) around 1930, and their development until 1955. Finally, based on the two main cases, as well as on the Cooperative Wholesale Society in Britain, it explores the economic function of cooperatives beyond national particularities, and tentatively analyses the relation of the institution to the broader forces of capitalism.

Keywords

capitalismcreditcooperativeGhanaIndiamarket
Type
Articles
Information
Journal of Global History , Volume 14 , Issue 2 , July 2019 , pp. 219 - 237
Copyright
© Cambridge University Press 2019 

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Footnotes

†

I would like to thank Gareth Austin and Harald Fischer-Tiné for their comments. I am also grateful to the two anonymous reviewers for their suggestions, as well as to the editorial board of the Journal for their comments and patience. An earlier version of this article was presented at the ENIUGH conference in Budapest. Archival research on three continents would not have been possible without the generous support of the Swiss National Science Foundation.

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