This paper aims to analyze how H1 Coop enacted and shaped its cooperative way of closure through the concepts of translation and performativity. Furthermore, by connecting translation and performativity with practice theory, the study highlights how H1 Coop’s distinctive history, rooted in civic and feminist activism and strong local ties, shapes its winding down.
This study employs a single-case study design to examine the complex, context-specific phenomenon of cooperative dissolution. Data were collected through participant observation, interviews and archival records. The analysis followed an iterative dialogue between emerging empirical insights and theoretical frameworks, drawing on translation in performativity and the pattern view in practice theory.
The study finds that H1 Coop’s dissolution unfolded as a collective, complex process. Core members enacted the shared goal of “winding down in a cooperative spirit” through the four stages of translation – problematization, interessement, enrollment and mobilization. This translation work was carried out through democratic participation, collective financial responsibility and the preservation of social bonds. Furthermore, the cooperative’s historical foundations in feminist orientation and civic activism, which had been repeatedly routinized, profoundly shaped translation work.
By integrating translation theory with a practice perspective, the study reframes cooperative dissolution as a performative, historically embedded process enacted through situated practices. Furthermore, this paper suggests that cooperatives with strong embedded identities and close ties to their communities are better able to mobilize resources during periods of organizational risk.
