Consumer societies - what is it?

What are consumer societies? They are the main economic agents in agrarian cooperation. The society is created on a voluntary basis. It is intended to protect the rights and economic interests of its members - owners of small industries and subsidiary farms.

The emergence of consumer societies

The first consumer societies appeared in the UK in the early 19th century. First they were organized by the rich with a philanthropic purpose. But gradually this idea was transformed, and at its head stood the workers themselves or peasants, who turned out to be masters of mills, shops and bakeries.

The proletarians created consumer societies in order to improve their own living standards. Inside such an organization, its members could have bought cheaper products with good quality. The cooperatives also became popular banks. They gave out loans to the needy. If consumer societies were rich, then their shareholders also became more wealthy. The profit of such an organization mainly went to increase the authorized capital, which brought income to all its members.

The success of cooperation

British co-operatives of the XIX century formed a number of principles that are inherent in modern consumer societies, which will be discussed below. They were characterized by low share contributions, limited number of shares for each member of the organization, equal rights of all unit holders, as well as the same pricing policy.

The success of the movement led to the fact that in 1860 the cooperatives began to unite in alliances. These organizations became more influential and weighty in the entire European economy. At the end of the XIX century in the Old World there were already two million co-operators. The international consumer society adopted at its enterprises the norms dictated by the socialist International. They included an eight-hour working day, free medical care and education, as well as compulsory accrual of pensions to employees. The proletarians and peasants happily joined the new organizations massively, hoping for their help in protecting labor rights.

The first consumer societies in Russia

At the same time, Russia also learned about what a consumer society is. Reviews about this system leaked into the domestic agrarian environment. At the end of the XIX century, the Russian village was in crisis, even despite the recent abolition of serfdom. The peasants continued to live in poverty. The reason for this situation was high birth rates in families and overpopulation, fragmentation of land ownership, low yields, lack of horses and livestock.

In this regard, by 1900, a class of unemployed was formed, numbering about 23 million people. And these people belonged to the able-bodied population. In parallel with this, the state budget grew, which fell on the shoulders of already indigent peasants.

It was then that the agricultural economy saved the rural consumer society. Peasants, learning about the success of cooperation in the West, began to unite themselves in similar structures to protect their interests in the domestic market.

Consumer societies in agriculture

The new mass organization of labor and trade proved to be convenient for the peasantry because the villagers wanted to take advantage of the benefits that a large enterprise gives, without losing touch with their own small-scale agricultural production. The Union of Consumer Societies provided such an opportunity for its members.

Before such a system of cooperation appeared in the village, rural producers suffered from usury and a huge number of unnecessary intermediaries. When autumn came, domestic railways simply could not transport all the products to the city. Because of this, people tried to "overstock" in advance, why the seasonal prices for bread fell sharply.

Gradually the peasant economy in Russia lost its natural features and turned into commodity production. In connection with this, the domestic economy urgently needed a new form of organizing trade in the agricultural sector. Emerging consumer societies have become the most long-awaited pills that have saved the peasants from unnecessary worries and moneylenders. Before that, bread before going to the counter, passed through several hands of intermediaries. In such a system, landowners themselves had to pay the income of second-hand dealers and speculators.

Already at the beginning of the 20th century, Russia became the world leader in the number of such organizations and the number of their members. It was not just economic growth, it was a real leap. On the eve of 1917, almost 50 thousand cooperatives functioned in the country. Each non-profit consumer society on average included no more than 50 participants. In total, up to 14 million people were involved in this economic movement, and peasants accounted for 80% of this number. The organization of the consumer society in the village was renewed with particular force after the 1905 revolution. At the same time Stolypin's reform helped , thanks to which it became easier for peasants to leave the communities. They took loans and went to Siberia, where they waited for the untrodden land. In this region, the regional consumer society developed particularly actively.

Cooperation in the USSR

The independent cooperative movement in Russia was abolished after the October Revolution and the coming to power of the Bolsheviks. Socialists were guided by the principle of "taking everything and dividing". At the same time, the objections voiced by any regional union of consumer societies were not taken into consideration at all.

The result was tragic. The peasants lost not only an instrument of cooperation among themselves, but soon they did not have any land at all. The villagers were driven to the collective farms. Those unwilling to cooperate with the Soviet authorities were declared kulaks and subjected to repression. Many former shareholders of consumer societies found themselves in exile in Kazakhstan and other remote regions. The state absorbed and banned the mediation activities on which the former cooperatives held.

Consumer societies in their former form ceased to exist. And nevertheless, some of their functions began to be carried out by the personal subsidiary plots of the peasants, as well as by people's art crafts. These timid half-forms of the previous cooperation allowed the peasantry to survive, despite the distortions of the planned state economy.

Consumer societies in the late Soviet era

By the beginning of the 1990s, when the Soviet Union collapsed, there was only a consumer co-operative that was strictly enforced. At the same time, Tsentrosoyuz first appeared, and then Rospotrebsoyuz. These organizations controlled the beginnings of new consumer societies.

In 1990, 40% of the population of the RSFSR was served by this system. It included 30 million villagers. In the days of shortages and product lines, each regional consumer society exercised an important economic function for the whole country. This system accounted for 25% of the retail turnover of goods, almost half of the potato billets, about a third of vegetable purchases, and so on.

In modern Russia

In the 90 years, Russian consumer societies experienced difficult times. Everything changed after the default of 1998 and depreciation of the ruble. The liberated economic niches allowed cooperatives to return to the market. Today in each constituent entity of the Russian Federation there are 20-25 such organizations. Most of them consist of agricultural consumer societies. Almost all of them are profitable regardless of the type of their economic activities.

For this economic sphere, the Tax Code is important. In the "zero" years, it introduced a number of amendments that granted benefits to the consumer societies that entered the Central Union of the Russian Federation. This structure is the main coordinating body for most co-operatives.

It is the Cetrosoyuz that determines the prospects for the development of its entire economic sector. Every year, in the framework of its congresses and conferences, public discussions are held on how to improve the system of consumer societies in domestic agriculture.

Features of today's consumer societies

Both the Russian and any international consumer society is a non-profit structure. That is, such an organization is engaged in entrepreneurial activities, but at the same time making profit for it is far from being a primary and decisive task. Such a union is created on a voluntary basis to protect the interests of its shareholders. The main tool of the consumer society is its privilege in the distribution of income that its members received. Thus, through contributions and participation in the collective economic life, the shareholders insure each other and themselves become protected from the consequences of entrepreneurial failures.

To date, the consumer society is the most effective and widespread form of cooperative in agriculture. Inside it is combined many functions and features. First, it is a unique system of relations, which consists in mutual investing of shareholders. Secondly, there is a property turnover between them. Thirdly, the consumer society is an excellent environment for meeting the social and material needs of the shareholders. Proceeding from this, it can be said that it is much easier and safer for a modern Russian rural entrepreneur to conduct his business in an alliance with his neighbors than alone to survive market hardships.

Functions

One of the main functions of the consumer society is the protection of consumers' rights. Citizens can apply to such an organization for support in the form of legal advice. Experts can conduct an independent examination of the quality of the doubtful goods. Lawyers analyze documents and contracts of sale and purchase, and they can represent their clients' interests in court. This is the important social purpose of such societies.

The activity of such an organization is regulated by the charter of the consumer society, which is adopted at the general meeting of the unit's owners. This document defines the duties and rights of the members of the organization. Shareholders have a pre-emptive right to purchase and purchase goods, as well as receive services provided by the organization. Its members receive assistance in the management of subsidiary farming, as well as the marketing of their products. The consumer society, through its diverse activities, makes a profit. Most of this money is divided between shareholders. The remaining funds are spent on the development of the society itself.

The state in recent years has done much to regulate the sphere of cooperative relations. The authorities support societies that are an important economic unit of domestic agriculture. The law "On consumer cooperation" remains the basic law for the industry. The companies protect consumers' rights on the basis of another document "On Protection of Consumer Rights".

Legal transparency and clarity of the mechanisms of work of cooperatives make them a convenient platform for cooperation of all owners of subsidiary farms in the village. It is important to note that the laws officially state the attitude of the state to these organizations. Consumer societies and unions - said there - are an important social factor in the life of the country.

Centrosoyuz

The defining property of consumer societies is their democratic character. Such organizations are managed by a general meeting of shareholders, where each member has the right to vote. Below, on the organizational ladder there is a representative body, usually a board headed by the chairman. Also in society there should be an audit and control commission, whose duties include monitoring the legality and correctness of the decisions made.

As already mentioned above, the main regulating body of cooperative activity in the whole of Russia is the Central Union of Consumer Societies, or simply the Centrosoyuz. In turn, it is managed by the Assembly of Members. It includes representatives of all domestic consumer societies. The meeting meets at least once a year, when delegates from all over the country come to Moscow. Such a meeting discusses topical problems and prospects for the development of consumer societies.