Cooperatives and Social Innovation: Experiences from the Asia Pacific Region

296 Pages·2020·3.761 MB·English

by  D. Rajasekhar, R. Manjula, T. Paranjothi

D. Rajasekhar
R. Manjula
T. Paranjothi Editors
Cooperatives
and Social
Innovation
Experiences from the Asia Pacific Region
Cooperatives and Social Innovation
“Social innovationhasbeenoflate widelydiscussed byscholars;but mostof theliterature
has addressed the nonprofits or the third sector at large. This book is a unique collection
of theoretical papers written specifically for this purpose as well as cases of social innova-
tions by cooperatives to solve problems at the local and higher levels from the region
presentedintheICA-AsiaPacificresearchconferenceon‘Cooperatives:Thekeysolutionfor
social innovation’. A wide range of social innovations in the areas offinance, health, agri-
culture,climatechange,consumer,marketingandworkerwelfare,empowermentofwomen
andyoutharecovered.Ibelievethisvolumewillbeanimportantadditiontotheliteratureon
cooperatives in the AsiaPacificregion.”
—Prof. AkiraKurimoto, Chairpersonof theICA AsiaPacific
Research Committee andHosei University, Tokyo,Japan
“This book on ‘Cooperatives and Social Innovation’ is the first of its kind. The book
discussesthenewconceptofsocialinnovationandbringsoutthesocialinnovationpractices
incooperatives.Thevolumeconsistsofpapersthathaveundertakenanin-depthanalysisof
cooperativesparticularlyintheareaofsocialinnovation.Thebookcoversinteresting areas
on social innovations in cooperatives relating to finance, grading of cooperatives, social
media to promote cooperative movement, tourism, producer, consumer, climate smart agri-
culture,healthinsuranceandwomenleadership.Thebookwillbeofgreatvalueattheglobal
aswellasnationallevelcooperatives.NCUIrecognizesandappreciatestheeffortsputinby
the editorsProfessors Rajasekhar, Manjula andParanJothi.”
—Dr. Chandra PalSinghYadav,President, National CooperativeUnion
ofIndia (NCUI); Memberof Parliament (RajyaSabha), Governmentof India
“Scholarly studies on the subject of Cooperatives are a few as compared to those on
Economics, Commerce and Management. I am extremely happy to note that Institute for
Social and Economic Change (ISEC), Bengaluru, and Agricultural Cooperative Staff
TrainingInstitute(ACSTI),Thiruvananthapuram,havejointlyworkedtobringoutthebook
“CooperativesandSocialInnovation”throughaSpringerpublication.Iamconfidentthatthis
book will contribute to more innovations by Cooperatives in the field and will help the
members of Cooperatives functioning in different sectors of the economy. It is hoped that
boththeInstituteswillcontinuetoworktogetherforenrichingtheliteratureonCooperatives
andtherebyguidepolicyformulatorsinmakingcooperativesasmember-centricinstitutions.”
—Kadakampally Surendran,Minister forCo-operation
Tourism &Devaswoms,Government of Kerala,Thiruvananthapuram, India
D. Rajasekhar R. Manjula T. Paranjothi
(cid:129) (cid:129)
Editors
Cooperatives and Social
Innovation
fi
Experiences from the Asia Paci c Region
123
Editors
D.Rajasekhar R. Manjula
Institute for Social andEconomic Change Institute for Social andEconomic Change
Bengaluru, Karnataka, India Bengaluru, Karnataka, India
T. Paranjothi (Deceased)
Agricultural Cooperative
Staff TrainingInstitute
Thiruvananthapuram, India
ISBN978-981-15-8879-2 ISBN978-981-15-8880-8 (eBook)
https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-8880-8
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The publisher, the authors and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this
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This volume is dedicated to
Late Prof. T. Paranjothi who passed away
after this volume went to the press
Foreword
The COVID-19 pandemic has exposed the fragility of our current systems. The
economic system which depends on the market was found wanting; the public
healthsystemleftgasping;andthepoliticalsystemflounderinginitsresponse.The
need of the hour is innovation in the social space and in the way we organise to
address issues of common concern. I amdelighted at this timely endeavour by Dr.
D.Rajasekhar,Dr.R.Manjula andDr.T.Paranjothitorevise,updateandcompile
papers from the International Cooperative Alliance Asia Pacific Research confer-
enceonSocialInnovationandCooperativesintheAsiaPacificregionheldinSeoul
and relate it to the current situation.
A decade or so earlier, the global financial crisis brought with it painful con-
sequencesinrelationtofinancialandeconomiclosses,unemploymentandincreases
in poverty and social exclusion. The financial crisis showed the perils of valuing
short-term gain over longer term viability and the dominant model of capitalism
increasing levels of inequality and lowering “social capital” and wellbeing. Be it
health,economicoranytypeofshock,thepeoplemostaffectedarethepoorestand
the most vulnerable. In the decade between the financial crisis and the global
pandemic,governmentshavebeenmovingawayfromthewelfarestate,pullingout
of the social space, reducing public expenditure and shifting social provisions to
social enterprises, either private or through civil society.
Socialenterprisesachievesocialobjectivesastheyfocusontheindividualusers,
peopleatthemargins,dealwithworkersintherealeconomyandgetintoactivities
which main street businesses are unlikely to focus. The volume points out that
social innovation emerges when the state and market find it difficult to solve
problems such as poverty, hunger, ill health, poor education and sanitation. These
getaccentuatedduetopoorgovernance,unequalopportunities,socialexclusionand
discrimination. The financial crisis and the pandemic have accelerated the need to
innovate as the need is acute, resources limited and trust in institutions at a nadir.
TheICABlueprintforaCooperativeDecademakesthecaseforcooperativesas
builders of economic, social and environmental sustainability. As member-owned
economic enterprises, cooperatives are less likely to compromise on quality in
pursuit of short-term profit, focusing more on longevity. As social actors, they are
vii
viii Foreword
inclusive and build the stock of social capital on which successful societies and
economies thrive. As participatory organisations, concerns about future environ-
mental outcomes are voiced democratically by members, without needing to be
calculated in terms of return on investment. The volume touches upon the dis-
tinctive features of social innovations by cooperatives and how these change the
processandoutcomeofdevelopment.Itbuildsonsocialinnovationbycooperatives
by presenting cases across social inclusion, income security, sustainable practices,
health insurance, accessible education, youth engagement, gender balance and
governance.
The volume on Cooperatives and Social Innovation is a valuable resource as it
offers new literature on Cooperatives in the Asia Pacific Region, provides
pioneering work on Cooperatives and social innovations, and examines social
innovation to address global challenges of rising inequality, sustainable develop-
ment and climate change through cooperatives. I appreciate the rigorous process
adoptedbytheeditorstoupdatethepaperspresentedinKorea,bymakingrelevant
corrections and providing valuable comments to authors and also adding four new
papers in the Volume.
I would like to congratulate the editors for editing the volume on Cooperatives
andSocialInnovations intheAsia Pacificregionand working with theprestigious
publication house Springer to have this volume published.
Balasubramanian Iyer
Regional Director
International Cooperative Alliance
Asia Pacific Administrator
ICA Domus Trust, New Delhi
Preface
Social innovations include new activities, services and processes initiated by
organisationsandinstitutionsforthebenefitofpeople.Socialinnovationstypically
emerge when the society is facing problems such as poverty, unemployment, ill
health, poor educational outcomes and so on, and these problems are not getting
resolved either by the market or the state. Social economy consisting of coopera-
tives, mutual societies, voluntary organisations and foundations is in the forefront
when it comes to conceiving, creating, implementing and evaluating social inno-
vations. Yet, the literature on social innovations by cooperatives is scanty. This
volume aims to fill in this gap in the existing literature on cooperatives.
Realisingtheimportanceofsocialinnovationsincooperatives,theInternational
Cooperative Alliance—Asia Pacific (ICA-AP) organised a research conference on
Cooperatives: The key solution for social innovation, at Sungkonghoe University,
Seoul,SouthKorea,duringNovember10–12,2017.TheICA-APhasrequestedus
to bring out a volume with papers presented in the conference for wider dissemi-
nation offindings relatingtosocialinnovationsthroughcooperatives. This volume
consists of 14 out of 27 papers presented in the conference. These papers are
substantially revised based on comments from editors, reviewers of Springer and
participantsintheconference.Inaddition,threechaptersarewrittenexclusivelyfor
the volume in order to make the volume more comprehensive and up to date. We
would like to thank all the paper writers for their patience and cooperation in
addressing our comments and suggestions from time to time.
Our grateful thanks to Mr. Balasubramanian Iyer, Regional Director,
InternationalCooperativeAlliance,AsiaPacific,Prof.AkiraKurimoto,Chairperson
of ICA-AP Research Committee, and other members of the ICA-AP Research
Committee, for reposing their faith on us to bring out the volume. We also thank
Mr. Iyer for contributing a foreword tothe volume.
WethankMr.MohitDaveandMr.AshokTanejafromICA-AP,NewDelhi,for
sharingsoftcopiesofthepaperspresentedintheSeoulconferenceandprovidingus
with the contact details of the authors.
ix
x Preface
WearethankfultoMr.MuraliJ,ResearchAssistant,CentreforDecentralisation
and Development, Institute for Social and Economic Change, Bengaluru, and
Mr. Aneesh A K, formerly Research Associate, Agricultural Cooperative Staff
Training Institute, Thiruvananthapuram for providing support whenever required
without any hesitation.
WeexpressourheartfeltgratitudetoMs.NupoorSingh,Editor,Springer,forher
constant encouragement and support. We also express our thanks to two anony-
mous peer reviewers of Springer for their comments and suggestions.
Bengaluru, India D. Rajasekhar
Bengaluru, India R. Manjula
Thiruvananthapuram, India T. Paranjothi
Contents
1 Cooperatives and Social Innovation: Experiences from the Asia
Pacific Region . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 1
D. Rajasekhar, R. Manjula, and T. Paranjothi
2 Concept and Theories of Social Innovation. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 15
D. Rajasekhar
3 Cooperatives and Social Innovation . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 31
Yashavantha Dongre and T. Paranjothi
4 Health Insurance as Social Innovation for Farmers in
Cooperatives: Lessons from Yeshasvini in Karnataka, India . . . . . 41
D. Rajasekhar
5 Community-Based Tourism Through Cooperatives in Sabah,
Malaysia . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 63
Najmah Binti Nawawi, Shamsiah Binti Syamsudin,
and Christina Andin
6 Failed Market-Oriented Society and Working Co-ops’
Biodiesel-Based Food Systems After the Great East Japan
Earthquake. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 79
Akihisa Nonaka
7 Role of Cooperatives in Climate Smart Agriculture . . . . . . . . . . . . 93
R. Manjula
8 Social Media as an Effective Tool for Social Innovation
in Indian Cooperatives . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . 109
Sanjay Kumar Verma
9 A Phenomenological Study of the Lived Experiences of PHCCI
Summer Youth Program Tutees Turned Lab Coop Officers. . . . . . 121
Ma. Jenny C. Advincula
xi