Community developers have long understood the importance of
local participation in the events and processes that shape communities.
Effective, democratic, and people-and-place-centered
development strategies have the potential to achieve such participation.
This article suggests that cooperatives can be an effective
participatory strategy to bootstrap low-income people into
the socio-economic mainstream. Woolcock and Narayan’s (2000)
social capital and poverty transition model is adapted to demonstrate
the development potential of cooperative businesses. We hope
to stimulate discussion among community development scholars
and practitioners, policymakers, and the public on the potential
of cooperative business as a community development strategy,
particularly in resource limited communities.