HE Co-operative Movement was in its early days described by William Hazlitt as “a slip of Owenism grafted upon a stock of common sense”. This metaphor is not merely more apt, but also more accurate, than to call Owen the “father” of Co-operation. For one thing, there were co-operatives in Britain before Owen enunciated his plan of a new society, and even before he was born. Voluntary associatio...
