SUSTAINABILITY AS A MIDDLE NAME. HISTORY OF THE FUTURE OF PORTUGUESE COOPERATIVES

The British “The industrial and Provident societies Act” was published in 1852. The First Portuguese law on cooperatives date back to 1867. Since then, cooperatives in Portugal have proved to be important tools in the fight against poverty, the improvement of workers’ living conditions and moral development. The Portuguese Constitution recognised the importance of cooperatives and cooperative principles. The author wants to highlight the main consequences of this recognition and underlines the importance of the cooperative principles (voluntary and open membership, member economic participation, autonomy and independence, democratic member control, education and training for their members, cooperation among cooperatives, concern for community…) for sustainability.