The mith of Mondragón. Cooperatives, Politics, and Working-Class Life in a Basque Town.

Kasmir, Sharryn.

ALBANY: STATE UNIVERSITY OF NEW YORK; 1.996
243 or.
I.S.B.N.: 0-7914-3003-0


_________________________________________________________________ SARRERA (Frances Rothstein, Towson State University)

"This is the first critical account of the internationally renowned Mondragón cooperatives of the Basque region of Spain. The Mondragón cooperatives are seen as the leading alternative model to standard industrial organization; they are considered to be the most successful example of democratic decision maing and worker ownership. However, the author argues that the vast scholarly and popular literature on Mondragón idealizes the cooperatives by falsely portraying themas apolitical institutions and by ignoring the experiences of shop floor workers. She shows how this creation of an idealized image of the cooperatives is part of a new global ideology that promotes cooperative labor-management relations in order to discredit labor unions and working-class organizations; this constitutes what she calls the "myth" of Mondragón."

_________________________________________________________________ AURKIBIDEA

- List of illustration.
- Foreword by June C. Nash.
- Preface.
- Acknowledgments.
- Notes on the text.
- Introduction: The Mondragón Model and the Remaking of Industrial Working Classes.
- Making the Myth of Mondragón.
- The History of Mondragón as a Working-Class Town.
- Cooperativism and Middle-Class Reforms.
- Remaking the Basque Working Class.
- Comparing a Cooperative and a Standard Private Firm.
- Fagor Clima and Mayc, S.A.
- Cooperatives, Politics, and Working-Class Life.
- Conclusions.
- Appendix: Basque Syndicates, Political Organizations, and Parties.
- Notes.
- Works Cited.
- Index.