Gung Ho in China: Towards Participatory Co-operatives

The aims of this paper are to highlight key themes in the variable development of participation in co-operatives in China over time, to describe examples of industrial co-operatives specifically in rural areas, and to examine the resurgence in the co-operative ideal in recent times. Following an outline of the development of the modern system of co-operatives in China during a time of upheaval in the first part of the twentieth century, the focus of the paper turns to the role of Gung Ho and Indusco, the movement of industrial co-operatives, in the war of resistance against Japanese invasion. The discussion then traces the redirection of the co-operative movement after 1949 into collectivisation in the 1950s, and goes on to highlight the revival of Gung Ho in the Reform period with the aid of a recent case study of women's co-operatives in Hebei province. The case study raises issues regarding present problems and future prospects for the further development of the co-operative economy in China which are considered in the final sections