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Distributed for University of British Columbia Press

Co-operative Canada

Empowering Communities and Sustainable Businesses

Distributed for University of British Columbia Press

Co-operative Canada

Empowering Communities and Sustainable Businesses

A shift in US bank policy. A demonstration in Greece. A tsunami in Japan. These types of events can have profound effects on the economic well-being of Canadian communities. In such a heavily globalized environment, it may seem that only large corporations with access to transnational resources can operate successfully, but Canadian co-operatives demonstrate that this is not the case. Drawing on the results of a large research project that examined co-operatives in communities from coast to coast to coast, Co-operative Canada reveals how Canadians are collectively responding to the forces of globalization through local, community-owned enterprises.

304 pages | © 2014

Sociology: General Sociology


Table of Contents

Introduction: Where We Stand – Place, Enterprise, and Community / Brett Fairbairn

Part 1: Globalization, Autonomy, and Cohesion

1 Globalization, Co-operatives, and Social Cohesion / William D. Coleman

2 “Nuna Is My Body”: What Northerners Can Teach about Social Cohesion / Isobel M. Findlay

Part 2: Social Enterprises and Networks

3 “I Felt That I Had Lost Myself”: Credit Unions, Economies, and the Construction of Locality / Brett Fairbairn with Rob Dobrohoczki

4 Autonomy and Identity: Constraints and Possibilities in Western Canada’s Co-operative Retailing System / Jason Heit, Murray Fulton, and Brett Fairbairn

5 Social Cohesion in Times of Crisis: Atlantic Canada’s Consumers’ Community Co-operative / Leslie H. Brown

Part 3: New Partnerships and Models

6 Reclaiming Community: Co-operatives and Sectoral Governance in Quebec Forestry / Patrick Gingras and Mario Carrier

7 Rebuilding “Home” in a Transient World: Globalization, Social Exclusion, and Innovations in Co-operative Housing / Mitch Diamantopoulos and Jorge Sousa

8 Co-operation Reinvented: New Partnerships in Multi-Stakeholder Co-operatives / Jean-Pierre Girard and Geneviève Langlois

9 “To See Our Communities Come Alive Again with Pride”: (Re)Inventing Co-operatives for First Nations’ Needs / Lou Hammond Ketilson

10 Imagination and the Future: Learning from Social Enterprises / Brett Fairbairn

Appendix: The Enterprise with Many Names: Establishing a Common Language / Brett Fairbairn

Index

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