The rise of consumer co-operatives

Abstract

In 1866 a Co-operative Society was formed in Thisted on the English pattern. It became the mother society of the Danish Co-operative Society Movement, in the sense that its rules and regulations served as the model for the Co-operative Societies which grew up rapidly after this time. In 1896, after a period of dissension and clashes, these Co-operative Societies succeeded in forming a central organ called the Danish Co-operative Wholesale Society, one of whose functions was to attend to the wholesale business of the Co-operative Societies. It is these 30 years that Preben Dollerup has made the subject of his ‘Social, Economic and Political studies’. This subtitle deserves particular notice. To a certain extent the studies are monographs which have been put together in an attempt to form a whole. This has been done with journalistic skill; however, it cannot conceal the fact that the investigations covering the first half of the period are generally more thorough and reliable than those for the second half. The general effect of the book is thus somewhat unequal.