Since the industrial revolution the pioneers of the Co-op movement have striven to improve the quality of life for all in the community. The industrial revolution in conjunction with other factors such as the Enclosures Acts effectively pushed many people off their rural smallholdings into the wastelands of urban squalor. With new technologies applied to manufacturing, huge profits were being made at the expense of the population, world resources and the environment. Low wages kept the work force under nourished and dependent. Most people did not have the right to vote and were subjugated by means of a corrupt political and legal system that did not hesitate to oppress them with violence.

Some of the first attempts to try and remedy the gross imbalance in capitalist society came from Robert Owen (1771-1858). He was himself a wealthy mill owner but was also a fervent political campaigner and social reformer experimenting with a number of model communities at his factories. These early attempts had many problems and Owen himself was a self confessed autocrat, but his efforts did inspire many others.

One such person was Dr William King (1786-1865) who is generally acknowledged as the man who publicised and developed Owen’s ideas in his monthly paper “The Co-operator”. First published in 1828 and reaching a circulation of 12,000, The Co-operator offered good practical advice about working co-operatively and became very influential. However it was not until several years later that the first really successful co-operative system was brought into being by the Rochdale Pioneers.
In 1844 twenty-eight workingmen set up the Rochdale Equitable Pioneers Society and opened a co-op shop on Toad Lane in Rochdale. They sold simple items such as flour, butter, tea and candles, but it was how the business was run that made it such a revolutionary new concept.
Their business was built on the principles of honesty, transparency, mutual respect, social responsibility and true democracy. Every customer of the shop became a member and so had a stake in the business. The Pioneers believed that pooling resources and working for the benefit of the community, was the best way to do business. The reputation of their co-op was soon known internationally and their principles (the key to their success), inspired co-ops the world over.

• Open and voluntary membership
• Democratic control (one member, one vote)
• Fixed and limited interest on share capital
• A surplus allocated in proportion to members' purchases (the dividend)
• Provision for education
• Co-operation amongst co-operatives
• Political and religious neutrality
• No credit
• Quality goods and services

Although tailored to fit the huge number of different types of co-ops in existence today, the Rochdale Pioneer’s principles are still accepted as the foundations upon which all co-ops are based.
As history has shown the development of the co-operative movement has been a long evolution that is still growing and is as relevant now as it ever was, perhaps even more so as the world becomes an increasingly crowded place. Green Dragon is very excited to be part of this movement and looks forward to furthering its principles and in turn helping other co-operative organisations and benefitting the wider community and environment.

Green Dragon is a volunteer project run as a not-for-profit organisation.
Office: Community Base, 113 Queens Road, Brighton, BN1 3XG