Journal of Co-operative studies, 58(3), 66-78

Abstract

This paper will discuss how co-operatives support their local communities through small-scale localised practices rooted in solidarity, co-operation, and mutual aid, creating a meaningful and positive impact. Grounded in the theoretical frameworks of diverse economy, community economy, and solidarity economy, this paper draws from empirical data gathered in two co-operatives of the Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra (MST), in Santa Catarina, Brazil. It aims to illustrate how these organisations embody post-capitalist principles through the ethical coordinates of necessity, surplus, consumption, and commons. The findings demonstrate that MST co-operatives actively challenge capitalist extractivism by prioritising democratic decision-making, reinvesting surplus in local communities, and restoring degraded land, thereby contributing to socio-ecological justice. In contrast to capitalist organisations that prioritise profit maximisation at the expense of social and ecological wellbeing, these co-operatives challenge capitalocentrism by including care for the territory they belong to as part of their responsibility. In terms of contribution, this paper offers empirical evidence to demonstrate how co-operatives care for their local communities. Furthermore, by providing contemporary examples of social solidarity enterprises, this study contributes to the diversification of the economic landscape and gives visibility to non-capitalist practices.

References

Banerjee, S. B. (2008). Necrocapitalism. Organization Studies, 29(12), 1541-1563. https://doi.org/10.1177/0170840607096386

Clark, T., Foster, L., Sloan, L., & Bryman, A. (2021). Bryman's social research methods (6th ed.). Oxford University Press.
 
Collard, R.-C., & Dempsey, J. (2020). Two icebergs: Difference in feminist political economy. Environment and Planning A: Economy and Space, 52(1), 237-247. 
https://doi.org/10.1177/0308518X19877887
 
Cornwell, J. (2012). Worker co-operatives and spaces of possibility: An investigation of subject space at collective copies. Antipode, 44(3), 725-744. 
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1467-8330.2011.00939.x
 
Dean, J. (2015). The party and communist solidarity. Rethinking Marxism, 27(3), 332-342. 
https://doi.org/10.1080/08935696.2015.1042701
 
Escobar, A. (2020). Pluriversal politics: The real and the possible (D. Frye, Trans.). Duke University Press. https://doi.org/10.1515/9781478012108
 
Friedman, M. (1970, September 13). A Friedman doctrine: The social responsibility of business is to increase its profits. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/1970/09/13/archives/a-friedmandoctrine-the-social-responsibility-of-business-is-to.html
 
Gibson-Graham, J. K. (1996). The end of capitalism (as we knew it): A feminist critique of political economy. Blackwell.
https://doi.org/10.1177/030981689706200111
 
Gibson-Graham, J. K. (2000). Poststructural interventions. In E. Sheppard & T. J. Barnes (Eds.), A Companion to economic geography (pp. 95-110). Blackwell. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470693445.ch7
 
Gibson-Graham, J. K. (2002). Beyond global vs. local: Economic politics outside the binary frame. In A. Herod & M. W. Wright (Eds.), Geographies of power: Placing scale (pp. 25-60). Blackwell Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1002/9780470773406.ch1
 
Gibson-Graham, J. K. (2006). A postcapitalist politics. University of Minnesota Press.
 
Gibson-Graham, J. K., & Dombroski, K. (2020). Introduction to the handbook of diverse economies: Inventory as ethical intervention. In J. K. Gibson-Graham & K. Dombroski (Eds.), The handbook of diverse economies (pp. 1-24). Edward Elgar Publishing. 
https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788119962.00008
 
Hammond, J. L. (2004). The MST and the media: Competing images of the Brazilian Landless Farmworkers' Movement. Latin American Politics and Society, 46(4), 61-90. 
https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1548-2456.2004.tb00293.x
 
Instituto Brasileiro de Geografia e Estatística. (2020). Atlas do espaço rural brasileiro (2nd ed.). https://biblioteca.ibge.gov.br/index.php/biblioteca-catalogo?view=detalhes&id=2101773
 
International Co-operative Alliance. (2015). Guidance notes to the co-operative principles. https://ica.coop/en/media/library/the-guidance-notes-on-the-co-operative-principles
 
Johanisova, N., & Vinkelhoferová, M. (2019). Social solidarity economy. In A. Kothari, A. Salleh, A. Escobar, F. Demaria, & A. Acosta (Eds.), Pluriverse: A post-development dictionary (pp. 311-314). Tulika Books/Authorsupfront.
 
Johanisova, N., Sovová, L., & Fraňková, E. (2020). Eco-social enterprises: Ethical business in a post-socialist context. In J. K. Gibson-Graham & K. Dombrowski (Eds.), The handbook of diverse economies (pp. 65-73). Edward Elgar Publishing. 
https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788119962.00014
 
Johnson, C. (1997). Review & booknote: The end of capitalism (as we knew it). Media International Australia, 84(1), 140. https://doi.org/10.1177/1329878X9708400127

Kokkinidis, G. (2015). Spaces of possibilities: Workers' self-management in Greece. Organization, 22(6), 847-871. https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508414521098
 
Kothari, A., Demaria, F., & Acosta, A. (2014). Buen vivir, degrowth and ecological swaraj: Alternatives to sustainable development and the green economy. Development, 57(3), 362-375. https://doi.org/10.1057/dev.2015.24
 
Mangan, A., & Ward, A. M. (2024). Cooperative resilience: Toward a heuristic model of collective action in a crisis. Financial Accountability & Management, 40(3), 308-325. 
https://doi.org/10.1111/faam.12382
 
McNee, M. K. (2005). A diasporic, post-traditional peasantry: The Movimento Sem Terra (MST) and the writing of landless identity. Journal of Latin American Cultural Studies, 14(3), 335-353. https://doi.org/10.1080/13569320500382690
 
Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra. (2022, September 12). MST já doou mais de 7 mil toneladas de alimentos desde o início da pandemia.  https://mst.org.br/2022/09/12/mst-ja-doou-mais-de-7-mil-toneladas-de-alimentos-desde-o-inicio-da-pandemia/
 
Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra. (n.d.a). Nossa produção. Retrieved November 17, 2025, from https://mst.org.br/nossa-producao/
 
Movimento dos Trabalhadores Rurais Sem Terra. (n.d.b). Quem somos. https://mst.org.br/quen-somos/

Parker, M., Cheney, G., Fournier, V., & Land, C. (Eds.). (2014). The Routledge companion to alternative organization. Routledge. https://doi.org/10.4324/9780203725351
 
Pinheiro Machado, R. (2018). Brazilian history: Culture, society, politics 1500-2010. Cambridge Scholars Publishing.
 
Prasad, P. (2023). True colors of global economy: In the shadows of racialized capitalism. Organization, 30(5), 1113-1129. https://doi.org/10.1177/13505084211066803
 
Raworth, K. (2017). Doughnut economics: Seven ways to think like a 21st-century economist. Random House Business.
 
Ribeiro Cardoso, A. S., Dias De Sousa, R. A., & Reis, L. C. (2019). O agro é tech, é pop, é tudo: O (des) velar dessa realidade. Geosul, 34(71), 836-857. https://doi.org/10.5007/1982-5153.2019v34n71p836
 
Richardson, J. (2004). Accounting for sustainability: Measuring quantities or enhancing qualities? In A. Henriques & J. Richardson (Eds.), The triple bottom line: Does it all add up? (pp. 34-44). Routledge.
 
Roelvink, G. (2020). Framing essay: Diverse economies methodology. In J. K. Gibson-Graham & K. Dombroski (Eds.), The handbook of diverse economies (pp. 453-466). Edward Elgar Publishing Limited. https://doi.org/10.4337/9781788119962.00064
 
Safri, M. (2015). Mapping noncapitalist supply chains: Toward an alternate conception of value creation and distribution. Organization, 22(6), 924-941. 
https://doi.org/10.1177/1350508414528741
 
Safri, M., Healy, S., Borowiak, C., & Pavlovskaya, M. (2017). Putting the solidarity economy on the map. Journal of Design Strategies, 9(1), 71-83.
 
Sanz, R. (2024, May 4). MST anuncia campanha de apoio às vítimas das enchentes no Rio Grande do Sul. Revista Fórum. https://revistaforum.com.br/brasil/2024/5/4/mst-anuncia-campanha-de-apoio-svitimas-das-enchentes-no-rio-grande-do-sul-158330.html
 
Singer, P. (2002). Introdução à economia solidária. Fundação Perseu Abramo.
 
Tracy, S. J. (2010). Qualitative quality: Eight "big-tent" criteria for excellent qualitative research. Qualitative Inquiry, 16(10), 837-851. https://doi.org/10.1177/1077800410383121
 
Vieta, M., & Lionais, D. (2022). The new cooperativism, the commons, and the post-capitalist imaginary. Journal of Co-operative Studies, 55(3), 9-24. 
https://doi.org/10.61869/BJHU1903