CREATING OF ALTERNATIVES IN COOPERATIVES: AT THE RISK OF ITS EFFECTS

Abstract

The case studies analyzed in this issue take us to the heart of the processes and practices at work in cooperatives, to shed light on their conditions of existence. While the more theoretical works (reviews and essays) have shed light on the “possible and already existing elsewhere” offered by these organizations, the four case studies take us into the making of the alternative as it unfolds. This concluding article reviews the case studies and expands on the research perspectives opened up by one of the most atypical cooperative forms: the BEC-CIC. The experience in the agricultural sector (interview with the co-manager of a cooperative) highlights its capacity to provide an alternative, as well as the challenges involved in implementing it. More broadly, through its particularities and its place in the field of critical entrepreneurship, it reveals lines of inquiry not found in other cooperative spaces. It is through its (trans)formative potential that the BEC under CIC status (a multi-stakeholder cooperative) can also foster reflection on the creation of alternatives through cooperation.