2 Generative Justice: The Cooperative Way

This chapter uses the emerging concept of generative justice, underpinned in this instance by Donati’s (2011) theory of relational sociology and Nancy Fraser’s (2007) tripartite conception of social justice, as a lens through which to elaborate the distinct contribution that social cooperatives make to desistance and social integration, and their limitations and challenges. It draws on the Swedish Vägen Ut! consortium as a case study based on an analysis of 24 interviews across eight social cooperatives. It outlines their origins as a grassroots movement in 2002, their operation and culture, how they are experienced by those working and participating in them, and to what effect, to elaborate the dynamics and effects of generative justice. 95% of employees have lived experience of imprisonment, mental ill health, and addictions which was considered important for generating a sense of identification, inclusion, interdependence and mutuality, also characteristic of generative justice. The work, the products, and the culture of the various cooperatives, the subsidiary nature of support generated, and the relations therein can be conceptualised as an expression of generative justice. This chapter focuses on what it feels like and means to be part of these cooperatives, their philosophy, purpose, and praxis and their manner of relating – and how that generates a sense of belonging, of mattering, and the development of relationships and networks, both between individuals and cooperatives, characterised by interpersonal and social trust, mutual support, solidarity, interdependence and reciprocity.