Meaning and Definition of Co-operation

The Ordinary and the Economic Meaning

In everyday language, co-operation simply means people helping one another to get something done — neighbours helping at a wedding, students working together on a project, villagers repairing a common road. This ordinary sense of 'working together' is the seed of the idea, but in the study of commerce, co-operation has a much more definite, organised meaning.

In its economic sense, co-operation is a special form of business organisation in which a group of people who share a common economic need voluntarily come together, pool their small resources, register themselves into a society under the law, manage it democratically on the principle of 'one member, one vote', and work for their mutual benefit — with the aim of serving the members rather than earning profit for a few owners. The guiding spirit is captured in the motto 'each for all and all for each' — every member works for the good of the whole society, and the whole society works for the good of every member.

The Basis of Co-operation: Self-help through Mutual Help

The core idea of co-operation is often summed up as 'self-help through mutual help'. Individually, a small farmer, a small trader, or a person of limited means is weak — they cannot get cheap credit, cannot buy in bulk, cannot bargain with powerful middlemen, and are easily exploited. But when many such weak individuals join hands and act together as one organised body, their combined strength lets them achieve what none of them could achieve alone. Co-operation therefore rests on the belief that weak people, by uniting voluntarily and acting together, can improve their own economic condition by their own effort.

Some Standard Definitions

Different thinkers and institutions have defined co-operation, and while the words differ, the central idea is the same. Three widely quoted definitions are:

H. Calvert: "Co-operation is a form of organisation wherein persons voluntarily associate together as human beings, on the basis of equality, for the promotion of the economic interests of themselves." This definition highlights three key ideas — voluntary association, equality, and the promotion of the members' own economic interests.

International Labour Organisation (ILO): "A co-operative organisation is an association of persons, usually of limited means, who have voluntarily joined together to achieve a common economic end through the formation of a democratically controlled business organisation, making equitable contributions to the capital required and accepting a fair share of the risks and benefits of the undertaking." This is the most complete definition — it brings out limited means, voluntary joining, a common economic end, democratic control, equitable contribution of capital, and fair sharing of risks and benefits. …