A Study on the French Cooperative Enterprise of Workers(SCOP) As a Model of Industrial Democratization
Authors:   Asia-Europe Perspective Association, Kim Heung-gil , Li Jinxi Michelle 
Published: June 2018

SCOP(Société Coopérative Ouvrière de Production), an organizational form of the cooperative enterprise of workers, has contributed significantly to the national economy of France where a variety of political ideologies and systems coexisted. As of 2015, there are 51,500 employees in 2,855 SCOPs, which made a great contribution to job creation and industrial democracy.
The SCOPs in France are mainly divided into three types. The first is Ex-nihilo type, in which workers establish production cooperatives by themselves and operate independently. The second is Transformation type where small- and medium- sized manufacturers are acquired by employees and managed independently. The third is Réanimation type in which employees operate and manage companies acquired through bankruptcy buyout. Some SCOPs temporarily exist and disappear due to internal conflicts and limitations, but the number of SCOPs has been steadily increasing. In average, 100 to 150 SCOPs are increasing every year.
It is also noteworthy that the steadily increasing social cooperative, SCIC(Société Coopérative d’Intérêt Collectif), has been included in the SCOP analysis since 2012.
This study aims to explore the history and developmental process of SCOP as well as to examine its operating systems, principles and socio-economic performance. SCOP has been considered as a model of industrial democracy. The investigation of SCOP can provide useful implications for establishment and operations for employee buyouts and social cooperatives in Korea.
The SCOPs in France have gone through many trials and errors in the past 170 years and created their own “uniqueness” and “competitiveness(core competence)”. As such, SCOPs have contributed a great deal to socio-economic performance such as improving quality of work life, respect for humanity and the realization of industrial democracy.
In the 1970s, Korea achieved a remarkable economic growth along with various attempts at social reforms. This periods of time is called “Economic Revolution” or “Transitional Periods”. In the process, however, qualitative aspects such as solidarity and equality between labor and management, democratic operation of organizations, and overcoming labor marginality through participation have been neglected. Korean government has focused only on quantitative performance in the process.
As can be seen from the quantitative data, the number of SCOPs in the CGSCOP has been steadily increasing. In the meantime, some SCOPs exist only for a short period of time due to their internal conflicts and limitations. Nevertheless, average of 100 to 150 SCOPs are increasing per year. As may be seen from this figure, voluntary participation of employees and their challenging spirits could contribute significantly to the creation and maintenance of employment as well as to the realization of industrial democracy.
Therefore, investigation of SCOPs in France could help search for alternatives in more proactive establishment of industrial democracy in Korea. It is expected that more broad range of data collection, literature and case studies may trigger more systematic analysis and studies on SCOP systems in France.