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"Self-Help Credit Union."
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Alternative Forms of Resilience. A typology of approaches for the study of Citizen Collective Responses in Hard Economic Times
A variety of theoretical and conceptual perspectives have been applied to studying collective citizen initiatives arising in response to hard economic times, such as solidarity-based exchanges and networks, cooperative structures, barter clubs, credit unions, ethical banks, time banks, alternative social currency, citizens' self-help groups, neighbourhood assemblies and social enterprises. Since the global financial crisis of 2008, scholarly attention on novel, alternative, resilient structures has increased, especially in regions that have been most affected. A comprehensive literature review is therefore needed on these initiatives which usually aim to meet basic needs such as food, shelter, health and education at the community level, or build and envision autonomous communities. This paper has four aims. First, it proposes a new, all-encompassing conceptual framework, alternative forms of resilience, to embrace all issues and groups related to such initiatives, during the new millennium and its economic and political challenges, while taking into account the impact of the 2008 crisis. Secondly, it offers a comprehensive literature review on collective citizen initiatives studied through different theoretical, methodological and conceptual understandings. Thirdly, it provides a new typology of several approaches on novel, collective and solidarity-oriented critical resilience initiatives which take into account political issues, be they policy or social-movement related. Finally, it points to future research areas which would aim to systematically address the political and non-political features of citizen-collective responses.
Journal Article
Nnoboa and Rotated Susu as Agents of Savings Mobilization: Developing a Theoretical Model Using Grounded Theory
In this study, I investigate nnoboa and rotated susu systems and how they operate as indigenous co-operatives that mobilize savings from its members. The nnoboa system, according to oral tradition, evolved out of the communal way of living in Africa, particularly Ghana. Nnoboa is a form of cooperative society whereby members of the society help to weed one another’s farm on rotational basis. Rotated susu is a group of two or more people who come together to save money and the lump sum (bulk money) is given to each of the group members on rotational basis. Both systems operate like the formal banking savings and loans systems. I employ a qualitative approach, comprising seven focus group meetings in seven communities in the Bibiani-Anhwiaso-Bekwai Municipality in the Western North Region of Ghana. The findings show that the rotated susu concept emanates from the nnoboa concept and the two systems are underpinned by the following values: trust, synergy, flexibility and empathy, commitment, tolerance and punctuality and promptness. Another finding of the study is that the nnoboa and rotated susu systems offer participants a lot of mileage: helping them to generate income, raise capital, increase their savings, providing them with a source of cheap labor (all nnoboa group members provide free labor for each other in turns so that it becomes affordable for each member to weed his/her farm or clear a parcel of land during the farming season since it is expensive to hire farm laborers), increasing their production, offering them opportunities for networking and bulk purchasing, the groups serving as collateral securities or guarantors as well as the display of love and affection. Based on these findings, I develop a theoretical model for nnoboa and rotated susu systems using grounded theory. The theoretical model of nnoboa and rotated susu systems has implications for researchers, practitioners and the unemployed in terms of how the poor can form groups and access cheap labor or raise capital for any venture. Therefore, the significance of this study is that extant literature on nnoboa and rotated susu with emphasis on their values and benefits and a theoretical model that supports such a system seem to be non-existent.
Journal Article
Credit unions, co-operatives, sustainability and accountability in a time of change
PurposeThe financial crisis of 2008 resulted in calls for change. Commentators suggested that co-operatives, in particular credit unions, could provide accountability and sustainability through their open governance and mutual status. However, such suggestions assumed that co-operative principles and practice continued to underpin the efficacy of co-operative banking, and that credit unions, one of the most prevalent forms of co-operative banking, could offer a viable financial alternative. Instead, in the case of Cyprus, the financial crisis and the associated aftershocks triggered the nationalisation and demutualisation of credit unions. This prompted the researchers to question both the viability of a co-operative banking future and the extent to which co-operative principles were shaping decision making, governance, accountability and sustainability. The paper aims to discuss these issues.Design/methodology/approachA case study approach was adopted to explore the degree to which co-operative principles still shaped credit union thinking and stakeholder relationships.FindingsAs is the case elsewhere within the co-operative movement, the findings point the fact that governance is weaken by the low membership participation and that the principles are no longer universally applied. Credit unions, if not co-operative banking, may not offer the financial assurances that commentators have called for. Moreover, the guiding principles may no longer be embedded within the fabric of the movement.Practical implicationsFindings are important for practitioners/supervisory body as they highlight possible impacts on co-operative’ future and especially on their governance model and level of autonomy and independence in case of state intervention.Originality/valueThe research undertaken is original as it is the first time credit unions in Cyprus were examined for adherence to co-operative principles.
Journal Article
Credit union modernisation and the limits of voluntarism
Successive UK governments have sought to increase financial inclusion by investing in credit unions. However, responses within the British credit union movement to the government's latest modernisation and expansion proposals reveal a conflict over perceptions of the purpose of credit unions between those who regard them as a means to provide financial services to low income communities, and those who regard them as self-help organisations offering an alternative to mainstream financial services which should remain independent from government initiatives. While this division is not new, it highlights potential limitations to the viability of achieving social inclusion through voluntary mutualism.
Journal Article
Immigrant-operated Informal Financial Associations in South Africa: Problems and Solutions
While immigrants are at liberty to start self-help financial associations (referred to as stokvels in South Africa) to cater for their unfufilled need for capital, the benefits of this laudable effort are seldom maximised due to a number of shortcomings. Aim: This paper seeks to ascertain the operational obstacles that immigrant-run stokvels face and to suggest solutions accordingly. Method: Aiming to complement each other, quantitative and qualitative research approaches were utilised to conduct this study. Quantitative and qualitative data were collected through a self-administered questionnaire and one-on-one in-depth interviews. Purposive sampling technique was employed to reach the 123 participants who responded to the survey questionnaire and the 10 that took part in one on-one in-depth interviews. Results: The typical immigrant African entrepreneur who participates ina stokvel, is a married male between ages of 30 and 46, and is fairly educated. While most of the respondents conceded that their stokvels faced operational problems, they also noted that the default on loan repayment and unskilled personnel on the loan management team were the issues of a greater concern. Hence, providing training and practical management skills becomes paramount to the smooth functioning of these stokvels. Uniqueness and implications: Though presumed to be a possible source of finance for immigrant-owned businesses, most studies have not explored the operational challenges that stokvels in South Africa face. The lessons drawn from this study may be of benefit to the respondents, policy-makers and academics.
Journal Article
Jewish Credit Cooperatives in Berlin, 1927–1938
The Jewish Credit Cooperatives were an important manifestation (and tool) of Jewish self-assertion in the German economy rapidly dividing itself along racist fault lines even before the Nazis officially came to power in 1933. Based on files recently discovered in the course of his research on Jewish-owned businesses in Berlin, the author shows that the cooperatives came as part and parcel of a very efficient self-help system the Jewish community organized in 1933, which mainly granted microloans, thereby supporting businesses that would otherwise not have been able to borrow funds. The credit cooperatives filled an important gap and provided short-term credits for the rising number of Jewish self-employed in a more and more hostile surrounding in a country basically stripped of reserves. While the one cooperative went down in a crash in 1937, the other cooperative did business right until the pogrom if November 1938--which marked the beginning of the end of all commercial activity in Germany for Jews.
Journal Article
Self-Help and State Rescue: The Raiffeisen Bank and Rationalization of the Cooperative Movement in Weimar Germany
In 1930 Germany's vast and diverse network of agricultural cooperatives was unified in the world's largest cooperative organization. Unification was underwritten by the state in support of an agrarian sector in deep crisis. It was achieved under the banner of rationalization, the elimination of wasteful duplication of rural cooperatives. The focus of this article is how the Raiffeisen General Association, Germany's second-largest cooperative organization, exploited state interest in cooperative merger and the contemporary mantra of rationalization to leverage public aid to overcome a financial crisis in its central credit union, the Raiffeisen Bank. While asserting cooperative principles of mutual assistance and self-help, Raiffeisen pursued unification as a means to state rescue. It thereby re-framed the relationship between self-help and state aid that has been a central theme of scholarship on the German cooperative movement.
Journal Article
Demystifying Microfinance in Inclusive Growth
The paper attempts to portray the concept of microfinance, its outreach and presence among the target-groups, roles played by banks, MFIs and some of the well performing NGOs / SHGs, while touching upon some focused areas for justifying its relevance in Inclusive Growth. The premise of microfinance has assumed phenomenal importance in accelerating the pace of financial reach of the targeted beneficiaries. Inclusive growth has always received special emphasis in the Indian policy making.
Journal Article