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Abstract
At present, agricultural cooperatives, like all cooperatives, are faced with many
challenges. They are questioned about their organizational and management
framework, their relations with local communities and with the market.
In Italy, there is an ongoing debate relating to how cooperatives at large
should or are supposed to evolve in a context in which the market pressure
seems to overcome the traditional characteristics of the cooperative movement
(mutuality, solidarity, the "one head one vote" principle, and so on). How to
adequately balance the innovation thrust and the cooperative principles? How
can agricultural cooperatives develop in the face of the 'ever overwhelming
market forces? Is the legal framework provided for cooperatives still
competitive? By taking into account the long-rooted experience of agricultural
cooperatives in the County of Trento, the authors intend to analyze the main
economic, organizational and legal problems affecting these cooperatives,
On examining these problems, the article also intends to bring about some
proposals and recommendations for the future developments of agricultural
cooperatives.