Publication Date

1-1-1989

Document Type

Dissertation/Thesis

First Advisor

Montague, Susan P., 1942-

Degree Name

B.A. (Bachelor of Arts)

Legacy Department

Department of Anthropology

Abstract

The Duck Soup Coup is a large food Co-op in the city of DeKalb which has suffered from the general decline of the health food industry in the last five years. The primary concern of the author was to determine how this economic decline has affected the social fabric of the organization. The author/researcher found that developments within the Coup have generally followed a pattern common to organizations based upon the concepts of participatory democracy. As the Co-op developed, it came slowly to depend on more centralized authority to deal with volatile market forces. Developing faster than the organization bylaws, this centralized authority (in the form of a planning committee and later a board of directors) came into conflict with the management and staff as to areas of responsibility and authority. The latest efforts of the Coup have been to iron out these areas of dispute, open avenues of communication, and deal with the problems and challenges the market has presented.

Comments

Includes bibliographical references.

Extent

37 pages

Language

eng

Publisher

Northern Illinois University

Rights Statement

In Copyright

Rights Statement 2

NIU theses are protected by copyright. They may be viewed from Huskie Commons for any purpose, but reproduction or distribution in any format is prohibited without the written permission of the authors.

Media Type

Text

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