Le Nord : revue internationale des Pays de Nord - 01.06.1940, Side 179

CO-OPERATIVE MOVEMENT IN DENMARK 173
characteristic of the movement as a whole. It is, for instance,
typical that the Danish co-operative movement is generally fairly
decentralised. It has been aptly said of this method of work, that
the co-operative movement like Napoleon’s soldiers marches de-
ployed but fights in mass formation.
The characteristic point is that the individual societies and
organisations are granted the greatest possible measure of in-
dependence and self-determination. There is a marked respect
for initiative from below, from the local members, and for their
resolutions and their attitude to questions at issue. There is, in-
deed, an important co-ordination through the Federation of
Danish Co-operative Societies and their board of control, the Co-
operative Committee, with regard to solving certain general co-
operative tasks, but this is not concerned with the business of the
individual organisations or societies and only in special cases
deals with such questions with a view to preparing a later solution
in a particular society or local organisation.
This is closely connected with the fact that, regardless of
specialisation and of the extent of the movement, the main in-
fluence and extensive powers are exercised by the representatives
elected by the societies themselves. And it is by no means an ob-
stacle that technically trained leaders and collaborators are re-
quired to carry out the daily work and act as advisers on im-
portant points.
As a factor in the economy of Denmark, being closely in
touch with large sections of the population and depending for its
conditions on the general opinion of the people, the movement
must, as a matter of course, be decisively influenced in the present
situation by the uncertainty and insecurity of our time. And
hence it is subject to the same endeavours and the same aspirations
for a stabilisation of conditions which characterise the Danish
community in general.