What is the future for cooperatives?

What do a worldwide banking group like the Crédit Agricole, a chain of supermarkets like E. Leclerc, and a provincial SME (small and medium sized entreprise) in liquidation and bought out by its employees all have in common? Even if, at first sight, this may appear counter-intuitive, all these companies are cooperatives. Once one leaves aside received wisdom, the cooperative world may surprise us because of its diversity and the wealth of solutions it has to offer. This little-known sector is both heir to the large egalitarian utopias of the 19th century and also a successful economic component of the 21st century. Cooperatives are well established regionally but are also part of globalisation. They are surprisingly diverse and offer alternatives, sometimes as unexpected as they are efficient, to the ever-powerful, dominant liberal model.