Building Communities: The Co-Operative Way, first published in 1988, sets the flourishing of housing co-operatives throughout the 1980s in a theoretical and historical framework that suggests that tenant control is the best way out of the still-problematic issue of housing policy. Before the First World War, co-operative housing was poised to become a potent force in government policy, but instead municipal housing rose to prominence. However, alongside a growing crisis of confidence in state housing and a continued decline in the private rented sector, a new political consensus has emerged that has placed co-ops firmly at the top of the agenda. Setting out the argument for collective dweller-control of housing, Birchall demonstrates that the arguments for co-operatives are strong, based on a broad spectrum of political thought. He charts the early and recent history of co-operative housing, and shows how they provide a flexible and stable means of meeting housing needs.

This is a book in search of an alternative to the discredited investor-owned banks that have brought the rich countries into crisis and the world economy into a long period of austerity. It finds customer-owned banks - credit unions, co-operative banks, building societies - have hardly been affected by the crisis and continue to operate according to their organisational DNA: low-risk, close to the customer, underpinned by real savings, and still lending to SMEs to protect jobs and local economies. They are big business - in some countries with over 40% of the market - but networked in smaller, democratic societies whose origins go back to 1850s Germany. The book explores their history and current situation, measures the impact of the banking crisis, makes a systematic study of their advantages, compares them to alternatives (savings banks and micro-finance institutions), and investigates their supervision and governance structures. It provides hard evidence for the superiority of customer-owned banks. Finance in an Age of Austerity will appeal to public policy analysts and political commentators, academics and students interested in current issues concerning banking regulation, supervision and governance. Social commentators and campaigners concerned with providing an ethical alternative to casino capitalism and social economists wanting to develop a critique of the investor-owned banking system will also find this book invaluable. It will be essential reading for banking specialists interested in broadening their understanding of a hidden sector that, since the crisis, has become much more significant. Contents: 1. Introduction 2. The Evolution of Cooperative Banks 3. The Evolution of Credit Unions 4. The Evolution of Mutual Building Societies 5. The Evolution of Banks Owned by Other Types of Cooperative 6. The Performance of Customer-owned Banks During the Crisis 7. The Comparative Advantages of Customer-owned Banks 8. Some Alternatives: Savings Banks and Micro-finance Institutions 9. Regulation, Governance and the Need for Member Participation 10. What Motivates Members to Participate? 11. Customer-owned Businesses - the Wider Picture 12. Conclusion: A Cooperative Counter-narrative Appendix: A Note on Terminology Bibliography Index

This is a book in search of an alternative to the discredited investor-owned banks that have brought the rich countries into crisis and the world economy into a long period of austerity. It finds customer-owned banks - credit unions, co-operative banks, building societies - have hardly been affected by the crisis and continue to operate according to their organisational DNA: low-risk, close to the customer, underpinned by real savings, and still lending to SMEs to protect jobs and local economies. They are big business - in some countries with over 40% of the market - but networked in smaller, democratic societies whose origins go back to 1850s Germany. The book explores their history and current situation, measures the impact of the banking crisis, makes a systematic study of their advantages, compares them to alternatives (savings banks and micro-finance institutions), and investigates their supervision and governance structures. It provides hard evidence for the superiority of customer-owned banks. Finance in an Age of Austerity will appeal to public policy analysts and political commentators, academics and students interested in current issues concerning banking regulation, supervision and governance. Social commentators and campaigners concerned with providing an ethical alternative to casino capitalism and social economists wanting to develop a critique of the investor-owned banking system will also find this book invaluable. It will be essential reading for banking specialists interested in broadening their understanding of a hidden sector that, since the crisis, has become much more significant. Contents: 1. Introduction 2. The Evolution of Cooperative Banks 3. The Evolution of Credit Unions 4. The Evolution of Mutual Building Societies 5. The Evolution of Banks Owned by Other Types of Cooperative 6. The Performance of Customer-owned Banks During the Crisis 7. The Comparative Advantages of Customer-owned Banks 8. Some Alternatives: Savings Banks and Micro-finance Institutions 9. Regulation, Governance and the Need for Member Participation 10. What Motivates Members to Participate? 11. Customer-owned Businesses - the Wider Picture 12. Conclusion: A Cooperative Counter-narrative Appendix: A Note on Terminology Bibliography Index

Contents:
Introduction
1. The economics of mutuality: a perspective on UK building societies Leigh Drake and David T. Llewellyn
2. Mutuality through credit unions: a cross-national approach Olive McCarthy, Robert Briscoe and Michael Ward
3. Housing co-operatives and social exclusion David Rodgers
4. Consumer co-operatives in retrospect and prospect Johnston Birchall
5. The mutualisation of public services: lessons from the new leisure trusts Richard Simmons
6. Mutuality in insurance and social security: retrospect and prospect Deborah Mabbett
7. Farmer co-operatives: organisational models and their business environment Jerker Nilssen
8. Mutuals in regional economic development: Mondragon and Desjardins Race Mathews
9. The competitive advantages of stakeholder mutuals Shann Turnbull
10. Member participation in mutuals: a theoretical model Johnston Birchall and Richard Simmons
11. The new mutualism and Labour's Third Way Stephen Yeo

Contents:
Introduction Johnston Birchall 1. Housing policy and the disabling of local authorities Peter Malpass 2. Housing associations: a move to centre stage Mike Langstaff 3. Building societies: builders or financiers? Douglas Smallwood 4. The social and economic consequences of the growth of home ownership Stuart Lowe 5. Private rented housing and the impact of deregulation A.D.H. Crook 6. The 1987 housing policy: an enduring reform? D.A. Coleman 7. Issues of race and gender facing housing policy Norman Ginsburg and Sophie Watson 8. Council tenants: sovereign consumers or pawns in the game? Johnston Birchall Conclusion Johnston Birchall

Mutuality has become a topic of debate recently for a whole range of academics and social commentators. The 'demutualisation' of banks and building societies has been partnered by the idea of a 'new mutualism' , forming a set of social values and beliefs, and this collection looks at the manifestations of these trends and the implications for the future.

"Decentralise authority and let managers manage" has been an almost universal message in UK public services over the last 15 years. But does it really work? This study attempts to show that behind the ministerial rhetoric the experiences of NHS trusts, grant maintained schools and housing associations were in practice distinctly mixed. The text offers a theoretical analysis of the origins and results of decentralized public management in the UK.

Building Communities: The Co-Operative Way, first published in 1988, sets the flourishing of housing co-operatives throughout the 1980s in a theoretical and historical framework that suggests that tenant control is the best way out of the still-problematic issue of housing policy. Before the First World War, co-operative housing was poised to become a potent force in government policy, but instead municipal housing rose to prominence. However, alongside a growing crisis of confidence in state housing and a continued decline in the private rented sector, a new political consensus has emerged that has placed co-ops firmly at the top of the agenda. Setting out the argument for collective dweller-control of housing, Birchall demonstrates that the arguments for co-operatives are strong, based on a broad spectrum of political thought. He charts the early and recent history of co-operative housing, and shows how they provide a flexible and stable means of meeting housing needs.