Journal of Co-operative Studies, 59(2), 14-25 | UK Society for Co-operative Studies

_{Open access}

_{Peer reviewed article}

_{Published online: November 2026}

What shall be the mechanism? The coming co-operative commonwealth in utopian literature

Chris Olewicz

Principle 5: The Yorkshire Co-operative Resource Centre, Sheffield, UK

Vol 59 No 2, pp. 14-25

DOI: https://doi.org/10.61869/JKIU8759

Abstract

Between 1890 and 1910, a small number of utopian novelists from the United States posed a question: under what circumstances might a socio-economic system based upon co-operation supplant a competitive one? This article examines seven novels that describe such a transformation and the conditions that gave rise to co-operative institutions. Although none fully confront the obstacles that must feel insurmountable beyond the confines of the page, the imaginings of the authors remain relevant at a time when technology-enabled economic disruption gives renewed potency to the co‑operative ideal.

How to cite this article: Olewicz, C. (2026). What shall be the mechanism? The coming co-operative commonwealth in utopian literature. Journal of Co-operative Studies, 59(2), 14-25. https://doi.org/10.61869/JKIU8759

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