A memorial tribute to Rita Rhodes

It is with sadness that we learned of the death of Dr Rita Rhodes. Along with her husband Bernard, Rita was a long-time co-operator and contributed in numerous ways both to UKSCS and the Journal of Co-operative Studies: serving as vice-chair and chair of the Society in the early 1980s, producing the Society’s early newsletters, as a keynote speaker at the Society’s 1986 conference, as a committee member in the 1990s. She was again chair of the Society in 2001 when the Plunkett Foundation’s World of Co-operative Enterprise annual publication merged with Journal of Co-operative Studies. Rita acted as reviews editor and contributed articles, reviews, and commentaries to the Journal - her last, a book review, in 2023 (Rhodes, 2023).*

Rita was Education/Liaison Officer of the Co-operative Development Agency and first studied at the Co-operative College at Stanford Hall in the 1980s.  She successfully completed her PhD with the Open University in the 1990s, which she later turned into a book to commemorate the centenary of the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) where she held the post of education officer and secretary of the ICA’s women’s committee.  As well as being a lecturer in industrial relations in further education, Education Officer of the Scottish section of the Co-operative Union, and later a lecturer in co-operative studies at Ulster University, Rita also undertook co-operative educational posts at regional, national, and international levels including assignments for the International Labour Organisation in Malaysia, Egypt, Sri Lanka, and Mongolia.

After early retirement, Rita was never far away from engagement with the wider co-operative movement and was both a visiting fellow at the Open University’s Co-operative Research Unit and a fellow of the Plunkett Foundation. She turned her attention to co-operative history and, following the publication in 1995 of The International Co-operative Alliance during war and peace, 1910-1950, authored and co-authored a number of books focusing on colonial and British Empire influences on co-operation, and co-operation as development.  Roger Spear, professor emeritus of Social Entrepreneurship at the Open University and professor and visiting researcher at Roskilde University remembers that "as a research fellow at the Open University’s Co-ops Research Unit, she worked tirelessly on these projects, with great determination to diligently uncover the data in archives and track down other materials, like letters, via personal contacts. She was a true force for co-operative history, and continued discussions  on Coop and Labour related matters on Facebook almost up till her death".

As Professor Hans Münkner observed in 2012, Rita gained ‘vast experience through her work as a lecturer and consultant at universities, colleges, technical aid agencies and international organisations’ that earned her international recognition as an historian and research fellow in the field of co-operative development’ (p. 55). We are grateful that she leaves a legacy of her work for others to explore.

Reference

Münkner, H. (2012). Empire and Co-operation: How the British empire uses co-operatives in its development strategies, 1900-1970 – Rita Rhodes [Book review]. Journal of Co-operative Studies, 45(3), 55-64.

Rhodes, R. (2023). Cooperative rule: Community development in Britain’s late empire. By Aaron Windel [Book review]. Journal of Co- operative Studies, 56(2), 52-53. https://doi.org/10.61869/OPCP2631

*An appreciation of Rita’s contribution and works, particularly for UKSCS and the Journal, will be featured in the 2025 Autumn issue of the Journal.

See below for information on Rita's published books.