The co-operative model as a ‘living experiment in democracy’

• Review of literature on co-operative history, associated rights, advantages and critiques.
• Qualitative interview-based case study of Cheese Board Collective (CBC).
• Data from CBC supports tenets of co-operative model and refutes neoclassical critiques of co-operatives.
• Conclusions identify factors that contribute to CBC success.

Theories regarding the purposes and justifications of property guide in part the way in which American business enterprises are run today. This raises the question – if purely capitalist corporations are founded upon an understanding of property most in line with the theories of established property scholars Bentham and Locke, is there room for a different kind of concept of property in the realm of U.S. business? In this paper I explore the way in which the workers’ cooperative model infuses a sense of moral responsibility into a group of individuals’ understanding of “property” in order to create a collectively managed enterprise that measures success both in economic and socio-political terms. I first review a large body of literature on the various forms of cooperative ownership and management, focusing on the history of the co-operative model, the rights entailed under the model, and the advantages as well as criticisms associated with co-operatives. I then use this literature to situate a case study example of a co-operative organization – The Cheese Board Collective, a worker-owned artisan cheese and pizza shop in Berkeley, California – and to analyze my findings.