Integral cooperatives as prefigurative organizations: Towards a commons-based development model

Abstract

Integral cooperatives, as non-profit democratic enterprises that can accommodate any sector of activity, have been multiplying throughout Portuguese territory in the last few years in response to sequential crises, worsening of life conditions, and the realization that the capitalist system is at their root. These commons-based organizations prefigure an alternative to the neoliberal model of development, based on economic growth, the privatization of public services, market liberalization, and the promotion of competition. Focusing their goal on the direct improvement of life conditions, these integral cooperatives promote alternative value systems, communitarian means of production and distribution, the democratic management of common resources, and mutual support networks. This paper draws on long-term ethnographic fieldwork among two integral cooperatives – Rizoma (in Lisbon) and Minga (in Montemor-o-Novo, Alentejo) – and the ongoing engagement with the Portuguese Network of Integral Cooperatives. It unfolds in a thorough analysis of how such prefigurative organizations respond to societal challenges, defend themselves against economic coercion, and adapt to the needs of their members, but also how they shape individuals and communities in a transformative way, showing that another model of development – and organizing socioeconomic relations – is possible.