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Cooperative Firms as a New Mode of Production

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  • Bruno Jossa

Abstract

The importance of the notion of ‘the mode of production’ is emphasised by all those scholars who hold that the ‘history-as-totality’ approach is the core of Marx's theory of society. Among them, Gramsci argued that while scientific advancements could shed little light on the issues with which philosophers and economists had traditionally been concerned, concepts such as ‘social relations of production’ and ‘mode of production’ had provided valuable insights for philosophical and economic inquiry. Hence our interest in the question of whether a system of producer cooperatives would actually lead to the establishment of a new mode of production. Opinions in the matter diverge greatly, and major implications stem from the distinction between worker managed firms (WMFs) and labour managed firms (LMFs), where the latter strictly segregate capital incomes from labour incomes. We conclude that LMF cooperatives do implement a new mode of production because they reverse the typical capital--labour relation right within a capitalistic system. An additional major point addressed in some detail is the main contradiction in capitalism.

Suggested Citation

  • Bruno Jossa, 2012. "Cooperative Firms as a New Mode of Production," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 24(3), pages 399-416, July.
  • Handle: RePEc:taf:revpoe:v:24:y:2012:i:3:p:399-416
    DOI: 10.1080/09538259.2012.701915
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Bruno Jossa & Gaetano Cuomo, 1997. "The Economic Theory of Socialism and the Labour-managed Firm," Books, Edward Elgar Publishing, number 1091.
    2. B. Jossa, 2007. "La teoria economica delle cooperative di produzione e la possibile fine del capitalismo (di Ferruccio Marzano)," Economia & lavoro, Carocci editore, issue 1, pages 206-206.
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    Cited by:

    1. Chris Rogers, 2018. "Global Finance and Capital Adequacy Regulation: Recreating Capitalist Social Relations," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 50(1), pages 66-81, March.
    2. Bruno Jossa, 2018. "Is Historical Materialism a Deterministic Approach? The Democratic Firm and the Transition to Socialism," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 50(1), pages 82-98, March.
    3. Marina Albanese & Cecilia Navarra & Ermanno Tortia, 2019. "Equilibrium unemployment as a worker insurance device: wage setting in worker owned enterprises," Economia Politica: Journal of Analytical and Institutional Economics, Springer;Fondazione Edison, vol. 36(3), pages 653-671, October.
    4. Tortia, Ermanno C., 2017. "The firm as a common. The case of the accumulation and use of capital resources in co-operative enterprises," MPRA Paper 76735, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    5. Gregory K. DOW, 2018. "The Theory Of The Labor-Managed Firm: Past, Present, And Future," Annals of Public and Cooperative Economics, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 89(1), pages 65-86, March.
    6. Gaetano Cuomo, 2015. "Imprese cooperative e democrazia economica," STUDI ECONOMICI, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2015(116), pages 5-38.
    7. Mikami, Kazuhiko, 2018. "Are cooperative firms a less competitive form of business? Production efficiency and financial viability of cooperative firms with tradable membership shares," Economic Systems, Elsevier, vol. 42(3), pages 487-502.
    8. Bruno Jossa, 2013. "Marxismo, dialettica ed economia politica," STUDI ECONOMICI, FrancoAngeli Editore, vol. 2013(110), pages 5-25.
    9. Marina Albanese & Cecilia Navarra & Ermanno Tortia, 2017. "Equilibrium unemployment as a worker insurance device: Worker insurance and wage setting in worker owned enterprises," DEM Working Papers 2017/09, Department of Economics and Management.
    10. Greg Sharzer, 2017. "Cooperatives as Transitional Economics," Review of Radical Political Economics, Union for Radical Political Economics, vol. 49(3), pages 456-476, September.
    11. Ermanno C. Tortia, 2018. "The Firm as a Common. Non-Divided Ownership, Patrimonial Stability and Longevity of Co-Operative Enterprises," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 10(4), pages 1-18, March.
    12. Ermanno C., Tortia, 2018. "A comparative institutional approach to co-operative self-finance: locked assets, divisible and indivisible reserves," MPRA Paper 89121, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    13. Dow,Gregory K., 2019. "The Labor-Managed Firm," Cambridge Books, Cambridge University Press, number 9781107589650, December.
    14. Andy Hira & Katherine Reilly, 2017. "The Emergence of the Sharing Economy: Implications for Development," Journal of Developing Societies, , vol. 33(2), pages 175-190, June.
    15. Bruno Jossa, 2015. "Historical Materialism and Democratic Firm Management," Review of Political Economy, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 27(4), pages 645-665, October.
    16. David Ellerman, 2016. "Reply to Commentaries on ‘The Labour Theory of Property and Marginal Productivity Theory’," Economic Thought, World Economics Association, vol. 5(2), pages 44-61, September.

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