Introduction: a transnational approach to co-operative history
Chapter 1 introduces the concept of co-operation and reviews the relevant secondary literature, as well as outlining the significance of the study in the context of broader debates on transnational history. Co-operation was from its beginnings shaped by transnational contacts and exchange, and from 1895 it also had its own international organisation, the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA), but there hitherto been very few studies of co-operation beyond the confines of the nation state. The aim of the book is to explore the meanings of co-operation and co-operative internationalism in the ICA from the late nineteenth century until the Second World War. The introductory chapter also discusses the historiographical context for the book and briefly discusses the methods and sources on which it is based.