La democracia industrial en España: orígenes y desarrollo de las empresas de trabajo asociado en el Siglo XX

This paper aims to explain the evolution of the worker co-operatives phenomenon in Spain, going beyond the mere juxtaposition of the dispersed data in the bibliographic sources available. However, as well as this task, we have tried to establish causal relations at the economic, political and social levels which favour or slow the development of this kind of business. Firstly we make reference to the most significant events of the end of the XIX century related to the co-operative movement, above all in the legal sphere, and in the attitudes of the workers movement. Secondly we deal with the different phases that can be seen in over the XX century: from the beginnings of the XX century up to the end of the civil war, the age of Franco and the inauguration of democracy up to Spain’s incorporation in the European Union, and the last decade. Lastly, we make some final conclusions.