3: The growth of cooperativism Flashcards
who was the president of the GNCTU in 1834
robert owen
what was robert owen
utopian socialist who believed people’s characters were created by their environment
what did new lanark promote?
cooperative rather than combative environment
new lanark abandoned the use of..
punishments as a means to raise productivity
New Lanark replaced punishments with..
work incentives - the most common was the ‘silent monitor’ where a wooden block was turned daily by a supervisor and showed the quality of the work. (black = poor, yellow = good, white = excellent)
appealed to the workers’ sense of social standing
after 1800, new lanark did what?
shortened the working day to 12 hours max
put the minimum age at 10
cooperative shop at new lanark
sold quality goods at little more than cost price
used the profits to pay for the school
new lanark set up the first ever..
infant school in 1816 which was free
new lanark continued to pay workers even when..
the USA placed an embargo on cotton supplies to Britain in 1806 following a political dispute and the mill was closed for 4 months
new lanark drew widespread..
interest both home and abroad - Owen tried to set up other NLs in America and in 1816, the future Tsar of Russia (Grand Duke Nicholas) visited
cooperativism was inspired by
owen’s ideas of self-improvement and community
cooperative schemes were reasonably popular when?
in the declining economic climate post 1815
Cooperative and Economical Society
1821
group of WC men in London (including Henry Hetherington)
had the intention of creating a communal house in Spa Fields
William King
published a newspaper for 2 years - The Cooperator
1827-9
had wide readership
spread cooperative ideas
labour exchange bazaars were short/long term?
short-lived
only lasted 2 years due to the accumulation of unwanted goods in the longterm
labour exchange bazaars had a currency based on..
labour hours rather than monetary value
2 exchange bazaars
- London 1832
- Birmingham 1833
name for the exchange bazaar in london
national equitable labour exchange
by 1832, how many cooperative shops
50
cooperative shops empowered the people by
giving control
providing quality goods and customer wellbeing
using dividends to create longterm interest/support
rochdale pioneers - who and where
28 men
Toad Lane
Rochdale Society of Equitable Pioneers 1844
why rochdale pioneers in the year 1844
1840s were economically depressed
the rochdale principles made them more..
professional
focused less on goodwill in order to create a longterm business structure (unlike early efforts in cooperativism)
“one member..
one vote” and this included women - enhancing their reputation as honest businessmen
the measures and weights in the rochdale shop
were accurate and fair
(other shops were known to tamper e.g. putting chalk in flour)
in rochdale shop, what price was charged
market value (profits were made as goods were bought wholesale)
no credit was accepted (as earlier efforts fell into financial difficulties because of this)
in the rochdale shop, a defined percentage of the profits was allotted to..
education
and the rest was divided pro rata (equally) based on how much each member purchased
in 1863, how many shops
more than 300
251 of these were created after reading of the Rochdale Pioneers
in 1856, what were the Rochdale Pioneers asked
to provide a wholesale service to supply societies across the region.
as a consequence, over the next 3 years the shop expanded to accommodate this
cooperative wholesale society
1863
the collective power of this group meant it could establish overseas depots as far away as Australia and south america by 1868
by 1870, the cooperative wholesale society had..
amassed property worth £300,000 - giving it a strong footing in the british economy
cooperative economics
rather than an individual accumulating vast profits, by promoting collective ownership, profit would be divided among a greater number of people.
LT interest would be created allowing for the business to grow which further enhanced profits
why did the gov become interested in friendly socs
after the perceived threat they posed post-1789 french republic (as they seemed to exhibit traits of french radicalism)
what was a friendly soc
in the absence of gov protection, working men (mainly skilled workers) started groups where each member paid into a mutual fund through weekly subscriptions.
friendly socs and ale houses
friendly socs were born from social gatherings
as the anonymity of industrialisation took hold, this served as a social and financial benefit to its members
first friendly soc
“The Royal Foresters” which became the “Ancient Order of the Foresters” in 1834
1793 friendly soc act - what did the legislation do
socs had to register with the local JP and send reports of their activities every 3 months
1793 friendly soc act - impact
saw a growth in friendly socs as there was now legal recognition (which by extension granted legal protection of funds)
by 1803, 8% of england were members
by 1815, how many people?
1/3 of the population
supported by way of friendly soc insurance cover
although the 1793 act seems good, what was the drawback?
membership was not open to everybody. the financial commitment was a regular subscription, meaning the poorest in society or those in unstable seasonal unemployment were excluded
when was the 2nd friendly soc act
1855
what did the 1855 friendly soc act do
updated the older act, mostly to protect society funds
by the 1850s, how had societies developed
so much so that the United Society pledged to provide a bed and meals to any member who was travelling for work
after 1815, the number of friendly soc members reached
over 1 million - meaning they commanded a great deal of wealth
in the 1800s when trade unionism was banned..
friendly socs grew and by 1870 they outnumbered unions 4:1
with more members, what could the societies offer
improved pension provision
savings opportunities
in 1846, what was abandoned?
the JP registering. instead, societies had to go to a central government department called Registrar of Friendly Societies
