Short Abstract:

Adopting the capability approach, and using mixed methods, the present contribution aim to present the result of an empirical research conducted in 2023 among the young members of two Italian Credit Cooperative Banks (CCBs). The research questions are: how is organized the democratic processes within these institutions? The participation of young members in CCBs has an impact on their well-being?

Long Abstract:

All the main areas of society are characterized by activities whose core has been globalized (Castells 1997): although, on the one hand, globalization seems to have influenced «the whole planet, not the whole planet seems to be included in the global system and exploits its impacts in the same way» (Bello 2003, p. 13). While, on the one hand, within the complex process of globalization, we are witnessing phenomena such as the extension of freedoms and democracy, the importance of education or the recognition of human rights, on the other hand, there is a tendency towards homogenization, predominance of force and money, to the detriment of a society educated to tolerance, dialogue and social justice (Casavecchia 2022). In particular, among the various crises we are witnessing, the crisis of democracy and participation (Ortiz 2022) is having important consequences in every area of society and requires the adoption of new educational tools that recover the essentiality of the human being and make him the protagonist of his life. The problem of democratic governability and the autonomy of people is a critical point in many areas of society; in any field of social life, however, it is difficult to foresee a change that does not start from below, from those who are waiting for that change.

Among the multidimensional approaches that have focused on the essentiality of participation as a cultural and educational tool for emancipation, there is the capability approach of Amartya Sen, which is based on formal and substantial freedom and the opportunity to live a life of value (Sen 1999; Alkire 2007). In particular, the agency is a prerequisite for achieving well-being and a life of value, the possibility of which is often determined by a series of practices consolidated over time that more than all contribute to limiting or encouraging human development. Several studies, among other things, show how participation in various areas of life contributes to improving well-being in material and intangible terms, considering well-being as a state of people linked to the achievement of present and future operations (functioning), choosing the most appropriate ones for their life (capabilities) and being active agents of change (agency) (Ardigò 1980; Sen, Dragupta 1995; Welzel, Inglehart 2010; Caldéron Gutierréz 2017). Participation therefore takes on a dual function: an instrumental one, as a means of achieving well-being and full social integration, and an intrinsic one, as a valuable activity in itself. This process requires that some basic foundations become immovable in society, such as mutual respect, equality, solidarity and subsidiarity, key principles to create an inclusive and generative corporate storyline. Such a process presupposes the existence of a new educational system that aims at the acquisition of critical, imaginative and cosmopolitan capabilities useful for creating new human beings and a generative society (Nussbaum 2006; Mannheim, Campbell 2017), through the concerted action of different educational agencies.

In the economic sphere, among others, there has been a gradual restructuring of the cultural processes that have organized institutions over time. Within the development approaches, which arose in opposition to capitalist approaches, a number of socio-economic organizations with the aim of promoting human development have come into existence. These include today’s Cooperative Credit Banks (also CCBs) which, in the words of Giuseppe Toniolo (ed. 2012), “fit well into the conception of an economy at the service of human beings”. Cooperative credit, although it has taken on different characteristics according to the contexts considered, has sought to preserve participatory and democratic logics within its members, making values such as solidarity, the centrality of the person, integral responsibility and democracy the foundations of its social capital and success, despite the challenges it faces. Another objective of cooperative of credit is also to promote well-being through participation and create an intra and intergenerational link between all the members.

Adopting the perspective of the capability approach, the present contribution aims to present the results of a research conducted in 2023 on the generation of young members of Italian Cooperative Credit Banks (CCB). In particular, two generational units were considered: the Young Members' Laboratory of the BCC of Rome and the Young Members' Committee of the BCC of Forlì, Imola, Ravenna, born with the aim of giving concreteness to the principle of democracy typical of the cooperative movement and valorizing young member as a cultural and organizational resource necessary for social change.

Choosing a set of capabilities basing on Nussbaum’s list and CCB’s list of principle, set in the Values Chart of principle, the objectives of the research were to study the characteristics of participation within the two groups considered; verify the possible impact of participation on their immaterial well-being, such as happiness, equality, solidarity, responsibility and trust; and verify the importance of the generation of the young members of the Laboratory and the Committee as an instrument for socio-historical transformations. The methodology used was mixed, in a now concurrent now sequential order: after a background analysis of the secondary data, the qualitative narrative involved interviews with First (Group Leaders) and Second Level Witnesses (Youth from the two groups), participatory observation and a focus group; the quantitative narrative involved the administration of a questionnaire (Tashakkori, Teddlie 1998; Babbie 2010).

The research results show that, despite the intrinsic and instrumental importance of participation, it is still a challenge for many institutions and takes on distinctive characteristics; in addition, participation can have different intensities and modalities (Allemand et al. 2021) and, on this, often depends on the achievement of intangible well-being and the role that the youth generation can assume in social transformation.

As much as the co-operative institutions are based on the principle of democracy and the active participation of the young generation, this process needs a deeper implementation in order to contribute to the creation of social justice on the basis of equality, democracy and social education.

Keywords: Agency, Well-being, Credit cooperatives, Democracy, Culture