Faculty Advisor
Dr. Jane Carroll
Department
History
Abstract
This paper aims to illuminate the ways in which women of the Northern States Women's Cooperative Guild, located in Minnesota, sustained the existence of cooperative youth camps during the 1950's. Consumer cooperatives, a form of business owned and operated democratically by its members, posit an alternative economic model to traditional capitalism through an emphasis on providing goods and services rather than generating profit. Focused on ideological notions such as political neutrality, full democratic participation, and gender neutrality, consumer cooperatives have historically acted as both a social and economic way of life for many Americans. During the 1950’s, the American political and social climate underwent a shift towards conservatism due to the country’s involvement in the Cold War. Because of the cooperative movement’s ideological emphasis on the rejection of the traditional American economic model, consumer cooperative ideology would have been viewed as suspect during this time. Throughout the early 1950’s the Northern States Women’s Cooperative Guild sustained the existence of cooperative youth summer camps that taught cooperative ideology, despite the heightened anti-communist fervor of the Cold War, which considered any such ideology as suspect. This paper argues that two factors made this possible: one, the adaptation and internalization of a modified ideology that called for reform but not revolution; and two, the women who organized and operated the camps adhered to socially accepted gender roles. These factors are explored through an analysis of the motivations of Guild members, the structure of the youth camps, written camp materials, and daily camp life.
Keywords: Northern States Women’s Cooperative Guild, cooperatives, Cold War, ideology, history
Start Date
17-4-2012 11:45 AM
End Date
17-4-2012 1:15 PM
Lady Cooperative Vigilantes and the Cooperative Youth: Women’s Roles in Teaching Cooperative Ideology Through Cooperative Summer Youth Camps in the Early 1950’s
This paper aims to illuminate the ways in which women of the Northern States Women's Cooperative Guild, located in Minnesota, sustained the existence of cooperative youth camps during the 1950's. Consumer cooperatives, a form of business owned and operated democratically by its members, posit an alternative economic model to traditional capitalism through an emphasis on providing goods and services rather than generating profit. Focused on ideological notions such as political neutrality, full democratic participation, and gender neutrality, consumer cooperatives have historically acted as both a social and economic way of life for many Americans. During the 1950’s, the American political and social climate underwent a shift towards conservatism due to the country’s involvement in the Cold War. Because of the cooperative movement’s ideological emphasis on the rejection of the traditional American economic model, consumer cooperative ideology would have been viewed as suspect during this time. Throughout the early 1950’s the Northern States Women’s Cooperative Guild sustained the existence of cooperative youth summer camps that taught cooperative ideology, despite the heightened anti-communist fervor of the Cold War, which considered any such ideology as suspect. This paper argues that two factors made this possible: one, the adaptation and internalization of a modified ideology that called for reform but not revolution; and two, the women who organized and operated the camps adhered to socially accepted gender roles. These factors are explored through an analysis of the motivations of Guild members, the structure of the youth camps, written camp materials, and daily camp life.
Keywords: Northern States Women’s Cooperative Guild, cooperatives, Cold War, ideology, history
Comments
Poster Session in Rauenhorst Ballroom