Principles and philosophy of cooperation

The merit of this book lies in the fact that it is perhaps the first study of the subject after the reformulation of the coopera tive principles by the Commission of the International Coopera tive Alliance in 1966. On this ground alone the publication of yet another book on the subject may need no apology. I may, however, venture to point out that the timing of this publica tion is not the only point in its favour! The value of this work would be found in its approach to the exposition of cooperative principles. I have endeavoured to deal with the cooperative principles and have traced their implications back to funda mental ideals and values from which they stem and at the same time, I have also gone beyond these principles and shown. their application to practical situations. It is my belief that this. treatment alone would enable the student of the subject to understand the profound significance of cooperative principles as an economic ideology and their far reaching relevance to the actual conduct of cooperative business.
In this volume I have attempted an interpretation with the help of examples, which brings out the universal significance of the cooperative principles. If there is anything which pro vides unity to the cooperative movement in diverse sectors of Jeconomic life and different countries, it is its common body of principles and philosophy.

The book has arisen out of the lectures delivered by me on the subject to the participants in a wide variety of courses such as Diploma Course in Cooperative Business Management, Senior Officers Course and some of the special short-term courses like that for General Managers of consumer cooperation, Execu tives of Agricultural Processing Cooperatives, Directing Officers of Industrial Cooperatives, etc., conducted at the Vaikunth Mehta National Institute of Cooperative Management, Poona, during the years 1967-68 and 1968-69, I found to my considera ble surprise that most of the participants had an extremely unsure and superficial grasp of the cooperative principles and could, at best, them out in a parrot-like or ritualistic fashion without comprehending their inter-connections or deeper significance. No wonder, therefore, that the relation of cooperative principles to cooperative philosophy and ideology and to cooperative business tended to be entirely overlooked. The book is written in the conviction that it will help coopera tive officers, managers, leaders and indeed all those working in the field of cooperation or interested in its study, in understand ing the principles of cooperation with all their implications and applications.