Diversity in Co-operation:
People, Places and Organisation

Call for papers, presentations, panels and practical activities

The co-operative movement, even with its agreed values and principles, has always wrestled with the diversity of people, places and organisational variations that have emerged under the banner of co-operation. This creates a specific challenge as the global movement attracts new advocates in the wake of the 2008 crisis.

As Prof Stephen Yeo’s (2004) work reminds us:

"Before [the Webbs’ ‘division of labour’] the impulse […] had been to bring such work together in whole people, by means of co-operative mutual associational forms, working [against] capitalist divisions by which they were surrounded. This impulse challenged – and fully realised would have transformed – capitalist divisions of labour, transforming the meaning of, and sites for, government, production and consumption."

Yeo’s argument was that mutual associations were excellent places to handle and manage the diversity of interests and identities that exist in people, places and society. Our identities and interests have become fragmented by industrial, geographic and demographic divisions as well as the diversity of co-operative legal forms.

In this conference, we invite you to submit proposals for papers, presentations, panels and practical activities that consider issues and impacts from the diversity of people, places and organisations that contribute to the co-operative movement.

Read the full Call for Papers: https://easychair.org/cfp/2018UKSCSConference

(An indicative conference programme is provided at the end of the call for papers).

Professorial Lecture (Friday evening, after the UKSCS 2018 AGM)

If you plan to attend the AGM and/or Opening Plenary of the conference, you need to register for Prof Rory Ridley-Duff's professorial lecture. Sheffield Business School are kindly providing the catering and need to register delegates separately to help planning.

https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/professor-rory-ridley-duff-inaugural-lecture-tickets-43161712845

You can register for the professorial lecture even if you do not plan to come to the conference on Saturday and Sunday.

Note for practitioners:

We particularly welcome contributions by practitioners who wish to share new thinking that has developed within a co-operative enterprise or network. We welcome presentations on:

• the emergence of new thinking
• how new thinking has been developed into new accounting, management, marketing or governance practices
• how new practices have impacted on producers, workers, consumers (and other stakeholders).

Bursaries for people in the UK on low incomes / out of work:

The society has a fund that provides support to people who are members of cooperatives in the UK, but who do not have the means to attend. If you would benefit from attending, but do not have the means to pay the conference fees, please send an email to info@ukscs.coop to apply for a bursary.

Bursaries for PhD / Early Career Researcher from the EMES Association:

We will be holding a PhD Colloquium on 31st August (on the eve of the main conference). Fees for PhD students include both the colloquium and the main conference.

A limited number of bursaries are available from the EMES Association (EMPOWER-SE COST Action) for PhD students and early career researchers from ‘target inclusiveness countries’ who wish to present their work on social and/or financial co-operatives at this conference. Bursaries provide up to €1,000 towards fees, travel and accommodation.

Target Inclusiveness Countries include:

Bosnia-Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Croatia, Hungary, Lithuania, Latvia, Luxembourg, Malta, Montenegro, Poland, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Slovakia, the former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia, Republic of Serbia and Turkey

Bursaries may also be considered for students from near neighbouring countries:

Iceland, Norway and Switzerland, Armenia, Georgia, Lebanon, Morocco, Russian Federation.

Please contact rocio.nogales@emes.net to apply for a bursary (EMPOWER-SE Grant Manager).

Please copy all bursary application correspondence to r.ridley-duff@shu.ac.uk (EMPOWER-SE WG4 Leader / UKSCS Conference organiser).

Hotels

You can find accomodation near Sheffield Hallam University by searching for 'Hotels near Sheffield Hallam University' on Google.

The closest hotels are:

* Jurys Inn (less expensive) - 2 minutes walk

* Novotel (medium price) - immediately opposite

* Mercure (more expensive) - 2 minutes walk

Travel

Sheffield Hallam University (City Campus) is situated 5 minutes from Sheffield Train Station and Sheffield Interchange. Travel tickets without additional fees can be purchased from Northern Rail at:

https://www.northernrailway.co.uk/

If coming by air, the airport that serves the most airlines is Manchester. There is a direct train from the airport to Sheffield that takes about 75 minutes. Alternatively, and particularly if you are coming from Eastern Europe, it is worth checking if there are flights direct to Sheffield/Doncaster. This is served by busses that take you to Sheffield Interchange (about 45 minutes).

Car parking is expensive in the city centre, but there are Park & Ride services from Halfway, Middlewood, Meadowhall Shopping Centre and Nunnery Square. The closest tram stop is Castle Square or Sheffield Station. If you do want to park close to the venue, there is a Q-Park directly opposite Sheffield Business School.