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Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics pp 55–63Cite as

Agricultural Cooperatives

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Synonyms

Agrarian social movement organizations; Farm organizations; Farmer cooperatives; Farmer empowerment strategies; Peasant organizations

Introduction

Cooperatives are formal social movements utilized around the globe often in reaction to various social-economic injustices and/or market failures. Their formation in the USA has been influenced by a legacy inherited from farmers and agricultural cooperatives developed first in Germany, Switzerland, Denmark, Ireland, and Iceland and from labor and consumer cooperatives in the UK, France, Sweden, Finland, Norway, and Italy. Historically disadvantaged farmers and/or workers have spearheaded their development both in Europe and the USA. They have also been used in a formal development context throughout the developing world, often driven with a similar impetus to address social justice issues, though with mixed results. This entry focuses on agricultural cooperatives in the USA only, though the tensions specified here highlight the...

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References

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Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. USDA, Rural Development–Cooperative Programs, Washington, DC, USA

    Thomas Gray

  2. University of Saskatchewan, Washington, DC, USA

    Thomas Gray

Authors
  1. Thomas Gray
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Corresponding author

Correspondence to Thomas Gray .

Editor information

Editors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Philosophy and Religion, University of North Texas, Denton, TX, USA

    David M. Kaplan

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Gray, T. (2019). Agricultural Cooperatives. In: Kaplan, D.M. (eds) Encyclopedia of Food and Agricultural Ethics. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-024-1179-9_203

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