The cooperative model and the common good: Italy’s journey

The cooperative model–worth considering more as a movement than as a system–has constituted one of the fundamental pillars of human, social, and economic growth–and that of environmental protection–in various parts of the world. Nowadays, can this experience, in relation to an aggressive capitalistic system increasingly orientated towards the maximisation of profit, have any hope of continuing to provide an adequate response to new needs? The challenge that the cooperative movement is called to face is at this level: understanding, in order to respond, without negating the values on which this original mode of doing business was founded and built. The mutualistic cooperative enterprise–with its capacity to combine work and capital in efficient and effective operation, supported by strong ethical principles–remains one of the most convincing models of truly sustainable and inclusive development, and, as a result, a contrasting formula and alternative to the systemic global crisis. It must not exempt itself today from looking increasingly at people’s daily needs, widening its scope to encompass the newest and most urgent issues. In the name of a greater and more decisive quality of life.