Co-op

Finland has a 1300km land border with Russia, fought two wars in the 1940s to defend its territory, and is now applying to join NATO. There, most…

S-Group is the third-largest wind power producer in Finland, the biggest solar producer and one of the biggest co-ops, owned by 3 million people. Well, corporate isn’t the only game in town, big can also mean local, and control matters more to the majority of citizens than massive shareholder dividends. Risto can list the local sources of breakfast – honey comes from 6,500 bees in hives on the roof while eggs, sausages and bacon come from farms 15km away. Even though they operated within the capitalist system, the workers’ movement backed co-ops as a way to develop civic abilities and rid people of subservient attitudes. But that snapshot of island cooperative life is just a tiny part of the story. “In a good year, our dividend is a breakfast share” – enough for one fry-up in the ferry cafe.