Cooperatives in Ethnic Conflicts: Eastern Europe in the 19th and early 20th Century

Cooperatives in Eastern Europe acquired a double, economic and national emancipatory function: For the minorities, they became the cornerstone in a set of national economic institutions, while the majorities used them as a tool of nationalizing the economy in their 'own' states; thus, cooperatives became deeply entangled in the ethnic conflicts, which characterized the region between 1850 and 1940. Experts from the United States, Germany and East Central Europe show, that economic nationalism was the driving force behind the development of cooperatives in Eastern Europe and that the self-help movement reflected the strive for national self-determination almost from the outset. Evidence from Eastern Europe, including Greece and Russia, makes the volume a comprehensive work on the interrelation of economy and nationalism and offers new, refreshing perspectives on a topic on the border of cultural studies and economic and social history. The volume is addressed to experts in the fields of research on nationalism and economic and social history.