The UK Society for Co-operative Studies (UKSCS) is back with an in-person conference for 2022, to be held from the 26-28 August at the University of Lincoln.
A call for presentations, papers and panels has gone out, with a focus on consumer co-operatives – past, present and future. Proposals can be oriented towards generating debates and engaging members, facilitating experiential learning activities or reporting the findings of research studies.
Organisers particularly welcome contributions by practitioners who wish to share developments within their co-operative enterprise and/or network on the emergence of new thinking.
This includes how now thinking has been applied to accounting, management, marketing, governance and other issues in co-operatives; how new practices have impacted on consumer co-operative members but also on members of producer and worker co-operatives, and other organisations who organise as societies for mutual benefit.
UKSCS also welcomes contributions on the position/contribution of consumer co-operation in the wider co-operative movement at regional, national or international level.
The conference will follow four tracks:
T1 – The context of consumer co-operation, looking at issues such as the policies and politics of consumer co-operation, the response of consumer co-operatives to the changing nature of work, the issue of capital accumulation in consumer co-operatives, and inter-cooperative structures.
T2 – Consumer co-operatives across time, space and sectors, looking at consumer co-ops across regions and/or countries; across economic sectors; in historical accounts and in terms of future developments.
T3 – Lessons learnt: what works in a consumer co-operative, focusing on the identification of effective co-operative practices, including: best practice and how to attract young co-operators to form start-ups.
T4 – Open Track: Proposals for presentations, paper panels or practical activities that do not fit naturally into one of the above tracks/themes.
UKSCS welcomes proposals from scholars and practitioners engaged in the study of co-operative movements. Applicants should prepare an abstract (maximum 750 words) that proposes a presentation, paper, panel or practical activity and submit it by 31 May 2022.
