Cooperative is the latest word in bullsh*t bingo. Especially a “womens’ cooperative”, which is heart-tugging term for either a deep working relationship between ladies in a village who bring each other forward economically and emotionally through a common commercial venture, or the front end of a normal business that’s using buzz words to get attention. One has to be aware, there are shark entrepreneurs who stand behind some of the so-called cooperatives and it is only by going to some and looking around, can one track a source of either external funding, or hard self labour. I can smell it in the air. After spending the last five years spending time from the rivers to the mountains in various agrarian settings, I’ve developed some rudimentary senses that somehow indicate authentic women’s cooperatives and inauthentic....> Zum Original