This book examines the history of co-operation in the broad context of the history of consumerism and consumption, of internationalism and the development of international organisations, and debates about international trade during the inter-war period. 

It is based on primary archive sources drawn from five different countries in five different languages and considers the history of the International Co-operative Alliance (ICA) with particular reference to the Nordic countries, a region where co-operation was very strong. In doing so, it offers a new perspective on the emergence of international interest in the Nordic region during the 1930s in particular.

The fundamental question explored in the book concerns the meaning of co-operation. Was it a social movement or an economic enterprise? Did it aspire to challenge capitalism or to reform it? Did it contain at its heart a political vision for the transformation of society or was it simply a practical guide for organising a business? Hilson argues that it was both, but that an examination of the debates over the different meanings of co-operation can also illuminate broader questions about the emergence of consumer interests in the first half of the twentieth century, especially in a transnational context.