The Demographic Determinants of "Successful" Village Cooperatives

In: The Pakistan development review: PDR, Band 34, Heft 4II, S. 609-617

Abstract

Worsley and his colleagues (1971) have drawn attention to the
tendency in all traditional societies, to assume communal relations as
'solidary' in nature. The structure of village cooperatives is presumed
to reinforce the solidarity of those relations. Anthropological
analyses, however, have illustrated that communal relations range from
those that could be termed 'solidary' to relations that are in direct
conflict. The response of the local population to the changes introduced
within the co-operative framework is therefore likely to be
cross-culturally varied. Moreover, the demographic features of
historically common conditions of a geographical area, it is argued, are
also pertinent to the "success" that maybe expected of village
cooperatives with reference to their stated objectives. The strength and
identity of the socio-economic groups inhabiting a given geographical
region play a role in defining local response to the changes introduced
and their likely outcome.