Can the world transition to a more co-operative society and economy? A new book by Emile G Nadeau makes recommendations for transitioning to a predominance of co-operative economies in the world by 2050.
Released in July, The Emerging Cooperative Economy describes the co-operative economy as “an economy that puts the wellbeing of the many ahead of the wealth and power of a few”, meeting human needs and protecting the planet.
The first section looks at the world’s economic history, from the early stages of agriculture, to the rise and fall of empires, arguing that this has led to “an increasingly integrated, but dysfunctional, world economy”.
The second section includes chapters on the current world of mixed economies and their potential for change. It also includes four chapters on increasing political and economic democracy, reducing inequality, and creating a more sustainable environment. The final two chapters present four scenarios for the world economy in 2050, and a strategy for transitioning to a more co-operative world economy by mid-century.
Related: Lessons from the frontline of co-op development
“E.G. Nadeau’s call for growing alternatives to our current economic order is . . . an urgent call to action,” said Tom Webb, cofounder of The International Centre for Co-operative Management, St. Mary’s University.
Nadeau has been researching, promoting, writing, and teaching about co-operatives and co-operation for more than 50 years. A magna cum laude alumnus of Harvard, he has a Ph.D. in sociology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He started his involvement in co-ops as a Peace Corps volunteer in Senegal in 1970.
The founding director of Cooperative Development Services in 1985, a co-op business planning organisation in the US, he has done consulting work on over 50 co-op projects in North America, Europe, Africa, and Asia. He has written or co-written five other books and numerous articles on co-operatives and societal co-operation. Nadea also taught more than 25 courses with co-operative themes, including as a faculty member at the International Centre for Co-operative Management at St. Mary’s University in Halifax, Nova Scotia, from 2004 to 2013.
The Emerging Cooperative Economy can be ordered through local booksellers and from Amazon. For more information, contact E.G. Nadeau at (608) 345-3984 or [email protected].
