UWIC Business School

Reclaiming the Economy:

the Role of Cooperative Enterprise, Ownership and Control

An International Conference on Cooperative Forms of Organization - Cardiff, Wales

Wednesday 6th - Friday 8th September 2006

Conference Organizing Committee
Molly Scott Cato UWIC, Cardiff (Academic Coordinator), Len Arthur, UWIC, Cardiff, Russell Smith UWIC, Cardiff, Tom Keenoy, University of Leicester UK

Conference Co-sponsors
WIRC, UWIC Business School
http://www.uwic.ac.uk/ubs/research/wirc/
Society for Cooperative Studies
Collective for Alternative Organisation Studies, Leicester
http://www.le.ac.uk/ulmc/caos/
OU Cooperatives Research Unit, Open University
http://technology.open.ac.uk/cru/
Co-operatives-UK
http://www.cooperatives-uk.coop

Conference Secretariat:
Clare Brockway, UWIC Conferences Manager
Email: cbrockway@uwic.ac.uk

Academic Coordinator:
Molly Scott Cato
Email: MScott-Cato@uwic.ac.uk

Conference Themes

This international conference is designed to explore the profile of cooperative forms of organization with a view to establishing a multidisciplinary research agenda which serves the mutual interests of both academics and practitioners.

To this end, we invite submissions from academics, co-operators, managers and policy makers with either a practical or research interest in co-operative organization. With such a range of perspectives, we anticipate that the various contributions will reflect a mix of international, national and local experience about both the social practice of co-operation and the theoretical concerns which inform such practices.

Alongside globalisation, the enterprise culture and the stakeholder economy, there is increasing evidence that cooperative and mutual forms of enterprise are spreading and developing across the world. They take a wide variety of forms, cover an extensive range of socio-economic enterprises, organizations and activities and – in pursuit of mutualist objectives – are characterised by a bewildering array of organizational arrangements.

However, to some degree, they all draw on the long, diverse and rich history of cooperative thinking. As noted by the International Cooperative Alliance (ICA), cooperative values have a long history in cooperative practice. By insisting on developing more democratic structures and organizational practices, such values combine a radical challenge to neo-liberal economics and to the political domination of multinational corporations. However this radical core is often not fully recognised. In part, this is because cooperative values come under severe pressure over the longer term. Cooperatives invariably operate in a hostile socio-economic environment and maintaining a coherent direct challenge to the mainstream is not easy. At the same time, the example set by such organizations remains potent: new producer cooperatives continue to emerge and we have seen a resurgence of interest in cooperative initiatives in the social economy and social enterprise sector. Overall, the evidence indicates that cooperative enterprise remains a very significant source of socio-economic regeneration both nationally and internationally.

However, the real challenge to cooperative values lies not in establishing cooperative forms of organization, but in creating long term and secure sources of ‘cooperative capital’, developing appropriate forms of co-operative management and establishing democratic governance mechanisms to ensure the long term survival of cooperatives as self-regenerating alternative forms of socio-economic activity. Analytically, at the centre of this challenge lie the age-old problems of ownership and control.

top

Publication

The conference proceedings will be published (with an ISBN) and available to participants at the Conference. The proceedings will contain the abstracts of the papers presented and the full versions of the papers will be provided on a CD as part of the conference pack.

Selected contributions from the conference will be published in a special issue of the Journal of Cooperative Studies and negotiations are taking place with other relevant journals to organize special issues.

To be included in the conference proceedings that will be presented to delegates on arrival, full papers are required by 30th June 2006.

The papers should be:

typed using double spacing
between 5,000 and 7,000 words long

Copies of papers should be sent as an email attachment (saved as a Word document or a text file) to: MScott-Cato@uwic.ac.uk .

top

Conference Venue

UWIC Business School

UBS is the largest school in UWIC and the third largest business school in Wales. Over 50 full-time teaching staff offer a wide range of courses and undertake research in the general areas of Business, Computing and Languages. Courses range from HNC/D level through undergraduate programmes to taught masters and research degrees; a growing number of specialised professional training courses in business and computing complete our portfolio.

The Business School has been an independent entity since August 1999. 60 academic staff cover the three main areas of the School’s academic activity: business studies, information systems and modern languages. Current student enrolments are in excess of 1,600. Courses combine the three academic areas within a business and management environment and students are enrolled for a range of qualifications from certificates to research degrees. There are currently 300 masters students and 15 research students these numbers are growing steadily.

Research within the School has developed steadily through the 1990s. There are two research centres within the School and both have established international collaborations operating in academic and applied communities. One of these is the Wales Institute for Research into Co-operatives. WIRC is Wales’s first national research unit on the social economy and was established in April 2000 with the aim of providing strategic and applied research covering all aspects of the social economy. It is based at the Business School of the University of Wales Institute, Cardiff.

WIRC members provide academic analyses to raise the profile of the social economy and especially the co-operative sector within the academic community, while keeping a strong policy focus and sharing their academic skills to support co-operative enterprises in Wales.

Cyncoed Campus

The Conference will take place in the Conference Suite of UWIC’s Cyncoed Campus. The Conference Suite at Cyncoed Campus has quality meeting rooms available year round, offering full hospitality services, audio-visual provision and dedicated Conference Staff.

top

Cardiff

Cardiff is the capital city of Wales. It grew rapidly in the late 19th Century as the hub of South Wales industrial activity to became the main port for the export of coal and steel. This coincided with the emergence of Cardiff as the centre of government in Wales which provided a legacy of stunning civic buildings. Despite industrial decline in the 1970s and 80s Cardiff has altered beyond recognition over the past decade or so and is now an acknowledged major European city. Massive investment has regenerated the docks which is now a superb waterfront with a wide range of leisure facilities, cultural attractions and restaurants. It is also the location of the new Welsh Assembly.

Places to Visit:

Big Pit Museum: http://www.nmgw.ac.uk/www.php/bigpit/
Cardiff Castle: http://www.cardiffcastle.com/
Millennium Centre: http://www.wmc.org.uk/
Millennium Stadium: http://www.millenniumstadium.com/
Museum of Welsh Life: http://www.nmgw.ac.uk/www.php/mwl/
National Museum and Art Gallery: http://www.nmgw.ac.uk/www.php/nmgc/
Techniquest: http://www.techniquest.org/
Information: Cardiff Visitor Centre: Phone: (029) 2022 7281

Lots more views of Cardiff for those interested at:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southeast/sites/cardiff/

Directions to the Venue

Cardiff is easy to reach whether you’re travelling by car, coach, train or plane.

By Car:

Cardiff has excellent motorway links with the M4 motorway skirting the city. Whether travelling from the East or the West, the easiest way to the Conference Venue is to come as follows:

Leave the M4 at Junction 29, signposted Cardiff (E&S)/A48(M).
2 miles along this road – the A48(M) – becomes the A48 (Eastern Avenue).
Take the third exit, signposted Cardiff(E)/Cardiff Docks/A4232/Llanedeyrn.
Take the third exit off the roundabout, signposted Llanedeyrn.
At the next roundabout take the first exit, signposted Cyn-Coed, onto Llanedeyrn Road. Drive ˝ mile.
At the traffic lights at the end of Llanedeyrn Road turn right onto Cyncoed Road.
You will find UWIC Cyncoed Campus situated approximately ˝ mile along Cyncoed Road on the right hand side.

Here is also an alternative map in Acrobat format

AA Route Planner:
http://www.theaa.com/travelwatch/planner_main.jsp
RAC Route Planner:
http://rp.rac.co.uk/routeplanner
Travel News about South East Wales:
http://www.bbc.co.uk/wales/southeast/travel/pages/livetravel.shtml

By Public Transport:

Cardiff has excellent train connections with the rest of Britain with direct connections to London Paddington; Swansea and West Wales; Birmingham and the East Midlands; Bristol; Shrewsbury and Manchester.

Trains arrive at Cardiff Central Station. Cardiff central Bus Station is immediately outside the train station and taxis are usually available. Bus numbers 52 and 53 go direct to the Cyncoed Campus and a taxi costs approx Ł7. http://www.cardiffbus.com/

Cardiff Taxis:

Capital Cabs: (029)20777777
Delta Taxis: (029)20202020
Dragon Taxis: (029)20333333
K-Tax: (029)20708525
Premier Cars: (029)20555555
Town Cars: (029)20700799
Wheelchair Taxis: (029)20666333

By Air:

Cardiff International Airport (http://www.cardiffairportonline.com/en/) lies some 20 miles to the west of the City. International participants are advised to travel to the UK via Amsterdam which has regular flights to Cardiff.

There is a bus connection to Cardiff Central train station. A taxi to central Cardiff will cost approx. Ł25.00.

Registration

Registration should be made directly with UWIC Conference Office:

conferenceservices@uwic.ac.uk

A registration form is available here for download and return by email, or to be printed out and posted to:

UWIC Conference Services
Cyncoed Campus
Cyncoed Road
Cardiff
CF23 6XD

Fees for the conference are Ł295 for the whole conference, Ł265 without the conference dinner on the Thursday evening. Delegates may attend one day without accommodation but with lunch and coffees for a cost of Ł80 per day.

The conference of the UK Society of Cooperative Studies follows immediately on from the Reclaiming the Economy Conference and delegates may stay an extra night on the Friday if they wish to attend this conference or for any other reason. The Friday night is not included in the overall booking fee and there will be an additional chrage of Ł29 for bed and breakfast or Ł35.75 for dinner, bed, and breakfast, which will include a two-course cafeteria style self-service evening meal. Please make a note on the booking form if you wish to stay for the Friday night.

top

Accepted papers

Here is a list of accepted papers in Word and PDF file formats. We cannot guarantee that they will be presented at the conference

top

Keynotes

Andrew Davies AM, Minister for Economic Development & Transport

Andrew Davies is the Assembly Member for Swansea West, representing the Welsh Labour Party. He is Minister for Economic Development and Transport in Rhodri Morgan’s Welsh Assembly Government Cabinet. He has a detailed knowledge of the Welsh economy through his experience in industry, the private sector and the fields of education and training. He headed the Ford Motor Company’s Employee Development & Assistance Programme in the early 1990s. He was also associate director of a public affairs company.

Andrew Davies was a prominent member of the ‘Yes for Wales’ Campaign and co-ordinator of Labour’s assembly referendum campaign in 1997. He is a former member of the Wales Labour Party Executive Committee and was a regional official with the Welsh Party in the 1980s. He is a member of the Transport & General Workers’ Union.

Dame Pauline Green

Pauline Green worked in the cooperative movement in her early years and was elected as a Labour/Cooperative Party Member of the European Parliament (1989–99). She was leader of the Socialist bloc from 1994–99, the largest bloc in the European Parliament. Her leadership skills and vision were an advantage in leading the restructuring of the Cooperative Union, where she was involved in responding to the recommendations of the Co-operative Commission, of which she was a member. Dame Pauline Green has been Chief Executive and General Secretary of Co-operatives-UK since 2000. In 2002 she was elected as President of International Cooperative Alliance, the umbrella body for European co-operatives.

Green holds a BA from the Open University and an MSc in Comparative Government from the London School of Economics. She was a Dame in 2003 for ‘her service to the Co-operative Movement and to the development of the European Union’.

The Rt Hon Alun Michael MP, Minister for Industry and the Regions

Alun Michael has been the Labour and Co-operative MP for Cardiff South and Penarth since 1987. He was Deputy Home Secretary 1997-98, Secretary of State for Wales 1998-99 and First Secretary of the National Assembly for Wales 1999-2000. In 2001 he chaired Parliamentary Hearings on volunteering in the United Kingdom. From 2001 to 2005 he was Minister of State for Rural Affairs and Local Environmental Quality. A Welsh-speaker, he was born in North Wales.

Before entering Parliament, Mr Michael was a Journalist (1966-71), and a youth and community worker 1971-87. He became a JP in 1972 and chaired the Cardiff Juvenile Bench before entering Parliament. He was a Cardiff City Councillor 1973-89 (Chair, Economic Development Committee 1987-89). He is a member of the National Executive Committee of the Co-operative Party.

Professor Marthe Nyssens

Marthe Nyssens is a permanent professor at the Department of Economics of the Catholic University of Louvain, Belgium, where she is the co-ordinator of a research team on third sector and social policies within the Centre de Recherches Interdisciplinaires sur la Solidarité et l’Innovation Sociale (CERISIS). She teaches courses relating to non-profit organisations, social policies and development theories.

Marthe is a founding member of the EMES European Research Network. She is a member of the International Society for Third Sector. Her work focuses on conceptual approaches to the third sector, both in developed and developing countries, as well as on the links between third sector organisations and public policies. She was the coordinator of the project “The Socio-Economic Performance of Social Enterprises in the Field of Integration by Work” in the fifth program research. She has widely published in journals and books, both in French and in English. Her latest book, Social Enterprise between Market, Public Policies and Civil Society, will be published by Routledge later this year.

You can find a full cv for Marthe Nyssens at: http://cerisis.opes.ucl.ac.be/cvnyssens.html

Tyrone O’Sullivan OBE

Tyrone O’Sullivan was the National Union of Mineworkers Branch Secretary at Tower Colliery for over 20 years. He was a leading member of the TEBO team that succeeded in organizing the miner’s buyout of Tower Colliery. He is now Chairman of Goitre Tower Anthracite Ltd. He was awarded an OBE in the 1996 New Years Honours List. Tyrone O’Sullivan is an adviser to the Welsh Development Agency and an Honorary Fellow of UWIC.

Tower Colliery is unique, being the only worker-owned coal-mine in the world and South Wales’s last remaining deep mine. Having been closed as part of the pit-closure programme it was bought by its own workers in 1994 and has been operating profitably since then. The original 239 workers has now grown to 300, 90 per cent of whom are shareholders. In December 2002, the Western Mail listed Tower as number 174 of Wales’s top 300 companies.

Roger Spear

Roger Spear is Chair of the Co-operatives Research Unit, founder member and vice-president of the EMES research network on social enterprise, and teaches organisational systems and research methods in the Centre for Complexity and Change at the Open University. His first degree was from University College London, and he has a masters degree in management science from Lancaster University.

His research interest for many years has been on co-operatives and social enterprises. Studies have included: a three year research project on co-operatives in the UK, a six country study of Worker Buyouts in Europe; a study of social co-ops in the UK; a comparative study of employee ownership in Netherlands and UK; a four country study of Social Audit in the social economy funded by European Commission (DG23); a study of labour market integration in several European countries; a comparative study of social enterprises in Europe (EMES project Frameworks 4&5)). He was one of the coordinators of a major CIRIEC project on unemployment and the third system (funded by European Commission). His research has been published in numerous books and papers.

Mervyn Wilson

Mervyn Wilson is Chief Executive and Principal of the Co-operative College and has worked in the co-operative sector for over thirty years, primarily in the field of member education and development. He has worked closely with all sectors of the co-operative movement including SME co-operatives, credit unions, food co-operatives and housing co-operatives, in addition to extensive work with consumer co-ops.

Mervyn led a two year action research project that explored the motivation of active members in consumer and housing co-operatives in the West Midlands of the UK, and was part of the team that drafted the Just Ask membership toolkit that resulted from that project. He has also worked with co-operatives in Central and Eastern Europe on projects relating to governance and democratic member control. Mervyn is a Director of the Robert Owen Society and a member of the Governance Review Group of the International Co-operative Alliance.

top

Timetable

A provisional timetable is now available in Word and PDF file formats.

top