Defining Cooperative Member Activism: Evidence from Oil Palm Farmers’ Cooperatives

Abstract

This study provides a narrative view of the cooperative activism concept. Mutual incentives theory suggests a typology of activism: true believers, supporters’ club, loyal customers, and free riders. Insights from focus group discussions suggest that cooperative members can be divided into these four categories and distributed unevenly, with the minority and majority as true believers and free riders, respectively. Given that the majority of cooperative members remain in the free-rider category, their demand for financial return dominates and forces true believers involved in cooperative management to work toward the demutualization of cooperatives that emphasizes financial return. This study also suggests indicators to measure cooperative member activism for future research. The implication is for cooperatives to address issues related to members’ activism, such as openness to new ideas, new generation glass ceiling, improving participation, and instill belief in cooperative concept among members.