Co-op News. May 2021

Co-ops and democracy: How well
does the process work?
CONNECTING, CHAMPIONING AND
CHALLENGING THE GLOBAL CO-OP
MOVEMENT SINCE 1871
Holyoake House, Hanover Street,
Manchester M60 OAS
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editorial@thenews.coop
EXECUTIVE EDITOR
Rebecca Harvey I rebecca@thenews.coop
INTERNATIONAL EDITOR
Anca Voinea I anca@thenews.coop
DIGITAL EDITOR
Miles Hadfield I miles@thenews.coop
DESIGN
Keir Mucklestone-Barnett
DIRECTORS
Barbara Rainford (chair); Elaine Dean
(vice-chair); Harry Cairney; Sofygil
Crew; Tim Hartley; Phil Hartwell;
Gillian Lonergan; Beverley Perkins;
Shaz Rahman; Lesley Reznicek
Secretary: Richard Bickle
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Member control is a central principle underlying the co-operative difference - and,
as the global movement positions itself as offering a solution to collapsing levels
of trust and accountability around the world - this democratic ideal is touted as a
crucial benefit.
But how does this work in practice - and how do you make member control work
effectively when organisations operate at a large scale? It's an issue that has
prompted comment among some Co-op Group members in light of recent business
decisions (p5, p36). It also has fans of co-operatively owned football clubs Real
Madrid and Barcelona protesting as the clubs stand by the controversial plan for a
Super League (p37); UK MPs demanding answers about the demutualisation of
LV= (p34-35); and members of US electric co-ops challenging boards when
accountability is called into question (p30-31).
It's not all bad news. The Super League fiasco has put fan control high up the agenda
and the US electric co-op members we spoke with say their campaign has given
them a bigger understanding of what being a member-owner of a co-op means -
and has also helped them resolve some of their differences with their board. And
moves are afoot to build democratic options. We hear from two of the co-founders
of Members for Cooperation (p38-39) which is campaigning to make the movement
work together more effectively, and we take a look at Meet.coop, a democratic
alternative to Zoom (p40-41).
With an eye on the UK's wider democracy, we look at what candidates in this month's
elections have for the co-op movement in their manifestos (p32-33). Elsewhere, we
look at the movement's ongoing work on food justice (p29), retail crime and store
worker abuse (p13) and youth empowerment (page 27).
On a sad note, the UK co-op movement lost one of its fondest friends last month,
Nigel Todd, who will be sadly missed. We remember him and pay tribute to his work
on pages 24-25, and offer our condolences to those closest to him.
MILES HADFIELD - DIGITAL EDITOR
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MAY 2021 I 3