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Co-operative ventures, formed on the basis of the mutual benefit of members rather than a profit motive, are a long standing radical method of attempting to establish a different form of social organsation. These can take many forms (stores and child care are common examples).

One form of co-operative is the co-operative settlement. William Lane's famous attempt at establishing a socialist community, New Australia , in Paraguay is the most famous example. Rural co-operatives date from the nineteenth century, in particular from the depression of the 1890s. There was another wave in the 1920s and 1930s, and again in the 1970s.

Resources

Newspaper Articles

• 'Co-operation', Radical (Hamilton, Newcastle, N.S.W.), 23 April 1887, p. 35. Image PDF Details
• 'The advantages and benefits of co-operation', The Radical (Hamilton, Newcastle, N.S.W.), 16 April 1887. Image PDF Details
• 'Objectives of New Australia, November 1892', New Australia (Wagga Wagga), vol. 1, no. 1, 19 November 1892. Transcript HTML Transcript PDF Details
• 'Objectives of New Australia, December 1892', New Australia (Wagga Wagga), vol. 1, no. 2, 17 December 1892. Transcript HTML Transcript PDF Details
• 'Our wasted resources', The Worker [Queensland] (Brisbane), 26 October 1895. Image PDF Details
• Dyson, Edward, 'Co-operation in a new form', The Bull-ant (Melbourne), 11 June 1891, p. 7. Image PDF Details
• Tremayne, Arthur, 'Co-operative Irrigation Colonies', The Bull-ant (Melbourne), 3 March 1891, p. 15. Image PDF Details

Novels

• Galier, W. H., A visit to Blestland, G. Robertson [This scan courtesy of the State Library of Victoria], Melbourne, 1896. Image PDF Details