A ORGANIZAÇÃO COOPERATIVA E SEUS PRINCÍPIOS DEMOCRÁTICOS

The setting of a cooperative takes place the moment people holding common interests and wishing to reach common goals, voluntarily unite under a free-adhesion scheme to democratically manage their enterprise taking all benefits and risks involved in cooperative activities. The cooperative organization is structured under ethical principles which distinguish them from other organizations. It is an organization based on democratic theorical principles like solidarity and equalness constituting the bases of their associates´ participation in the decision-making process and which, in its turn, may grant the citizenry formation of its members. In order to understand the cooperative principles a literature review was carried out, ranging authors of several conceptual palletes, including the ideologists of the utopian cooperativism who deal with the solidarity and equality theme as principles of democratic organizations in cooperatives. Next, the analytical categories solidarity and equality were analysed aiming to compare them to the notion given to them by the associates of the Cooperativa Educacional de Viçosa, MG (COEDUCAR). The north point of this paper is the analyses of these theorical concepts in the cooperative´s organizational environment. The methodology used in data-collection was based on qualitative research, by the use of semi-structured surveys, group-dynamic techniques and documental analysis. It was verified that the associates, as they celebrated a contract to the construction of a cooperative, seek to defending both the equality of their rights and solidarity in the development of their interests. On the other hand, they do not put into effect their participation and co-responsibility as for their own business in a practical way