Cooperatives help meet critical livelihood needs worldwide. This article seeks to provide an understanding of the potential of cooperatives to promote economic and social objectives by illuminating the tensions that cooperatives face at the nexus of local and global forces. To achieve this goal, this article draws on data from an 8-month qualitative case study of two coffee cooperatives in southern Costa Rica and focuses on the tensions experienced by the cooperatives in the economic realm. The research suggests that these tensions actually further the cooperatives’ economic objectives and are necessary for the cooperatives’ flourishing and growth.
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