On Confucian Understanding of Co-operative Thought

Abstract

Modern co-operatives were introduced in Korea more than 100 years ago and have strongly taken root. Today, they serve mainly as instruments for achieving the goals of development policy in the backward sector of agriculture, and they effectively contribute to the implementation of national development plans. This raises the questions: Are there global values of cooperation? Can the values of Western and Asian cultures be distinguished? Can values be transferred from one country to another? Is incorporating Asian values a success factor for the fast-growing co-operative movement in Asia? This paper attempts to answer these questions in the following three steps: we introduce the Confucian value system and its impact on co-operatives. In the primary part of the paper, we then explain the lessons of Confucian practice, their co-operative elements, the Confucian economic mindset, and the suitability of Confucian social ethics for the development of group-oriented innovation. Second, we compare the Confucian value system with the co-operative value system. Finally, we discuss if and what co-operators worldwide — and particularly in Germany — could learn from the Confucian value system.