Abstract

This report explores the possibility of co-operative leadership for higher education. The report is based on four case studies where co-operative leadership is currently taking place: a co-operative academy school, a worker-co-operative grocery store, a major high street retailer and a co-operative university in Spain. The research was organised around a set of catalytic principles established by the researchers in previous research in this area: Knowledge, Democracy, Bureaucracy, Livelihood and Solidarity. These principles were confirmed by the research as providing a robust framework to explore and understand the nature of co-operativism and co-operative leadership in each of the case studies. The research found that co-operative leadership was taking place in each of these organisations although framed in different ways. The research revealed that Capital and Labour are key critical categories for the theory and practice of co-operative institutions.