What are consumer societies? They are the main business entities in agricultural cooperation. The company 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 plots.
The emergence of consumer societies
The first consumer societies appeared in Great Britain at the beginning of the 19th century. At first they were organized by the rich with a philanthropic purpose. But gradually this idea was transformed, and it was headed by the workers themselves or peasants, who turned out to be the owners of mills, shops and bakeries.
The proletarians created consumer societies in order to improve their own standard of living. Inside such an organization, its members could buy cheaper goods of good quality. Cooperatives also became people's banks. They issued loans to those in need. If consumer societies were rich, then their shareholders also became wealthier. The profit of such an organization mainly went to increase the authorized capital, which brought income to all its members.
Cooperation Success
British cooperatives 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, a limited number of shares for each member of the organization, equal rights for all unit owners, and the same pricing policy.
The success of the movement led to the fact that in the 1860s, cooperatives began to unite in unions. These organizations became more influential and weightier throughout the European economy. At the end of the 19th century, there were already two million cooperators in the Old World. The international consumer society at its enterprises has adopted the norms dictated by the socialist International. They included an eight-hour working day, free medical care and education, as well as compulsory pension payments to employees. The proletarians and peasants joyfully joined the new organizations en masse, hoping for their help in protecting labor rights.
The first consumer societies in Russia
At that time, Russia also learned about what a consumer society is. Feedback on this system has leaked into the domestic agricultural environment. At the end of the 19th century, the Russian village was in crisis, despite the recent abolition of serfdom. The peasants continued to live in poverty. The reason for this situation was the high birth rate in families and overpopulation, fragmentation of land ownership, low productivity, lack of horses and livestock.
In this regard, by 1900 the class of unemployed was formed, the number of which amounted to about 23 million people. Moreover, these people belonged to the able-bodied population. In parallel with this, the state budget grew, which fell on the shoulders of the already poor peasants.
It was then that agriculture saved the rural consumer society. Having learned about the success of cooperation in the West, peasants began to independently unite in similar structures in order to protect their interests in the domestic market.
Consumer Societies in Agriculture
The new mass organization of labor and trade turned out to be convenient for the peasantry because the villagers wanted to take advantage of the benefits that a large enterprise gives, and at the same time not lose touch with their own small-scale agricultural production. The Union of Consumer Societies provided its members with this opportunity.
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 manufactured products to the city. Because of this, people tried to “overstock” in advance, which is why seasonal bread prices fell sharply.
Gradually, peasant farming in Russia was losing its natural features and was turning into commodity production. In this regard, the domestic economy urgently needed a new form of trade organization in the agricultural sector. The emerging consumer societies became the very long-awaited pill, which saved the peasants from unnecessary worries and moneylenders. Before that, bread, before getting to the counter, passed through several hands of intermediaries. In such a system, landowners themselves had to pay the income of dealers and speculators.
Already at the beginning of the 20th century, Russia became a world leader in the number of similar organizations and the number of their members. It was not just economic growth, it was a real leap. On the eve of 1917, nearly 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 80% of this number were peasants. The organization of consumer society in the countryside resumed with particular strength after the 1905 revolution. Then Stolypin reform helped, thanks to which it became easier for peasants to leave the community. They took loans and went to Siberia, where they were waiting for arable land. In this region, a regional consumer society has been especially active.
Cooperation in the USSR
The independent cooperative movement in Russia was liquidated after the October Revolution and the Bolsheviks came to power. The socialists were guided by the principle of "take everything and share." At the same time, the objections expressed by any regional union of consumer societies were not taken into account at all.
The outcome was tragic. The peasants lost not only an instrument of cooperation among themselves, but soon they were completely left without land. The villagers were driven into collective farms. Unwilling to cooperate with the Soviet government were declared fists and subjected to repression. Many former shareholders of consumer societies were exiled in Kazakhstan and other distant regions. The state absorbed and banned the mediation activities on which the previous cooperatives were held.
Consumer societies in their former form ceased to exist. Nevertheless, some of their functions began to be performed by the personal subsidiary farms of the peasants, as well as folk artisan 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 90s, when the Soviet Union collapsed, there was only consumer cooperation entered into a strict framework. Then the Centrosoyuz arose, and then the Rospotrebsoyuz. These organizations controlled the beginnings of new consumer societies.
In 1990, 40% of the population of the RSFSR was served using this system. It included 30 million villagers. In the days of shortages and product lines, each regional consumer society carried out an important economic function for the whole country. This system accounted for 25% of the retail turnover of goods, almost half of the potato harvest, about a third of vegetable purchases, etc.
In modern Russia
In the 90s, Russian consumer societies experienced difficult times. Everything changed after the default of 1998 and the depreciation of the ruble. The freed 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. Moreover, almost all of them are profitable, regardless of the type of their economic activity.
For this economic sphere, the Tax Code is important. In the “zero” years, a number of amendments were introduced to it, which provided benefits to consumer societies included in the Central Union of the Russian Federation. This structure is the main coordinating body for most cooperatives.
It is the Central Union that determines the development prospects of its entire economic sector. Annually, 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 Russian and any international consumer society is a non-profit structure. That is, such an organization is engaged in entrepreneurial activity, but at the same time making a profit for it is far from a paramount and determining task. Such a union is created on a voluntary basis to protect the interests of its shareholders. The main tool of a consumer society is its privilege in the distribution of income received by its members. Thus, through contributions and participation in a collective economic life, shareholders insure each other and themselves become protected from the consequences of entrepreneurial failures.
Today, consumer society is the most effective and widespread form of cooperative in agriculture. Inside it combines many functions and features. Firstly, this is a unique system of relations, which consists in mutual investment of shareholders. Secondly, a property turnover takes place between them. Thirdly, consumer society is an excellent environment for satisfying the social and material needs of shareholders. Based on this, it can be said that it is much easier and safer for a modern Russian rural entrepreneur to conduct his business in alliance with neighbors than to survive market adversities alone.
Functions
One of the main functions of the consumer society is the protection of consumer rights. Citizens can apply to such an organization for support in the form of legal advice. Specialists can conduct an independent examination of the quality of doubtful goods. Lawyers analyze documents and sales contracts, and they can also represent the interests of their clients in court. This is the manifestation of the important social purpose of such societies.
The activities of such an organization are regulated by the charter of a consumer society, which is adopted at a general meeting of unit owners. This document defines the duties and rights of members of the organization. Shareholders have a pre-emptive right to purchase and purchase goods, as well as receive services that the organization provides. Its members receive assistance in the management of the farm, as well as the marketing of their products. Consumer society through its versatile activities makes a profit. Most of this money is divided between shareholders. The remaining funds are spent on the development of society itself.
In recent years, the state has done much to regulate the sphere of cooperative relations. Power supports societies, which are an important economic unit of domestic agriculture. The main law for the industry remains the Law on Consumer Cooperation. Companies carry out consumer protection on the basis of another document “On the Protection of Consumer Rights”.
Legal transparency and clarity of the mechanisms of cooperatives make them a convenient platform for cooperation of all owners of farms in the village. It is important to note that the laws formally state the attitude of the state towards these organizations. Consumer societies and unions, it says there, are an important social factor in the country's life.
Centrosoyuz
The defining property of consumer societies is their democracy. Such organizations are governed by a general meeting of shareholders, where each member has a voting right. Below the organizational ladder is a representative body, which usually acts as a council led by a chairman. Also, the company should have an audit and control commission, whose duties include monitoring the legality and correctness of decisions made.
As mentioned above, the main regulatory body of cooperative activities throughout Russia is the Central Union of Consumer Societies, or simply the Central Union. In turn, it is governed 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. At such a meeting, current problems and prospects for the development of consumer societies are discussed.