Synopsis

Cooperatives are special purpose organizations that have unique attributes compared to other forms of enterprise. They are independent, member-owned and democratically governed businesses, created with equity financed by members who invest in order to benefit through their patronage. Cooperatives are built on a “collective identity and shared destiny. ” This characteristic is the underlying factor in the rise of cooperative networks in the face of national and/or regional conflict and hostile, monopolistic alien enterprises and or middlemen/usurers.1 This paper details the distinct contributions, attributes and recent examples of how cooperatives achieve economic and social development during conflict and in failing, failed and recovering states including Bosnia, East Timor, Lebanon, Mozambique, Rwanda, Macedonia and Nepal. It concludes that cooperatives are often imbedded in cultures where violence is prevalent and they can result in rapid economic development as ethnic bridging institutions. They have successfully helped create jobs for returning minorities and ex-combatants to conflict regions, and been particularly effective when markets are distant and high-valve. To become transformational, cooperatives network