How the Co-operative Movement Started

Today's co-operatives have their beginnings in the founding of an early co-operative started in Rochdale, England in 1844. Because they put their organising principles down in writing, the legacy of the Rochdale Pioneers lives on.

This is the story of how and why the Rochdale Pioneers organised.

Credits: This is adapted from the first co-operative cartoon made over 100 years ago for “Vart Blad”, the member journal of the Norwegian Wholesale Society, Oslo, Norway, originally told by Selve Heivik and illustrated by Sturla Kaasa. This version has been illustrated by Laron Williams and edited for Building Co-operative Societies, ©1984, by the Michigan Alliance of Co-operatives.