A few drops of plurality: New cooperativism beyond categorisation

Abstract

Co-operativism comprises a diversity of stakeholders and motivations that often overlap and that are sometimes contradictory. These pluralist practices are difficult to place within typologies and registration models, which invites a discussion of the nature of ‘new cooperativism’, and a potential expansion of frameworks. It is prudent to discuss how we may achieve more nuanced understandings of new cooperativism to shed light on its ambiguities and possibilities. The question is, then, how alternative and pluralist practices in the ever-changing landscape of civil society and co-operativism can — or should — be framed or defined.