Cooperatives are organizations voluntarily formed by groups of individuals who equally share ownership and control over it. Cooperatives are formed to fulfill the economic, social, or cultural needs of its founders. Cooperatives can be divided into consumer-owned, worker-owned, or producer-owned, or some combination of those. Some cooperatives produce goods and services, that are either divided among the owners or are sold on the market. Another type is consumer cooperatives which are formed to create a pool of resources to provide owners of cooperatives with goods, services, supplies, production equipment, or housing. Cooperatives that operate similar to banks are called credit unions. The Cooperative Movement started in Europe in the early 19th century inspired by ideas of early socialist authors and activists, like Robert Owen.

References:

Kropotkin. Anarchism: Its Philosophy and Ideal (1896);

    -     The Conquest of Bread: 1 (The Kropotkin Collection) (2017, in French 1892). 

Oppenheimer. The State (2018, in German 1907);