{"id":{"repo_id":"the-open-u","oai_identifier":"oai:oro.open.ac.uk:54667"},"canonical_url":"https://search.dev.ndltd.org/etd/the-open-u/oai:oro.open.ac.uk:54667","repository":{"repo_id":"the-open-u","name":"The Open University","base_url":"https://oro.open.ac.uk/cgi/oai2"},"display":{"title":"Learning for development through co-operation: the engagement of youth with co-operatives in Lesotho and Uganda","abstract":"With 2011 designated the United Nations Year of the Youth and 2012 the Year of the Co-operative this research contributes to issues raised by these two significant and timely events. The renaissance of co-operatives globally and their revival in countries in Africa has promoted interest and debate around co-operatives as collective values-based businesses and their potential to promote economic and social development and address poverty (UN, 2010). There is also increasing recognition that youth in Africa present both a potential and a challenge for development (UN, 2011). Youth access to education, civic participation and the ability to secure and sustain livelihoods are core concerns. Initiatives to involve youth in co-operatives in Lesotho and Uganda bring these two areas together and are of particular interest. The focus of this thesis is whether and how co-operatives provide opportunities for youth learning and the development of their capabilities and agency to achieve valued goals. The analysis is framed through conceptualisation of co-operatives as learning spaces within which theories of situated , learning are combined with the capability approach. Using qualitative and participatory methods to investigate youth engagement in co-operatives in Lesotho and Uganda the thesis argues that co- operatives provide situated social learning spaces where youth learn for development. Learning emerges within such spaces for: business and vocational knowledge and skills, personal development, collective learning based on trust and co-operator identity, and wider outcomes such as community engagement, enhanced relationships and networks and development of the co- operative form. Learning is, however, both enabled and restricted by: gender, the level of prior formal education, the networks of which a co-operative is a part and the type and success of a co-operative.","abstract_html":"With 2011 designated the United Nations Year of the Youth and 2012 the Year of the Co-operative this research contributes to issues raised by these two significant and timely events. The renaissance of co-operatives globally and their revival in countries in Africa has promoted interest and debate around co-operatives as collective values-based businesses and their potential to promote economic and social development and address poverty (UN, 2010). There is also increasing recognition that youth in Africa present both a potential and a challenge for development (UN, 2011). Youth access to education, civic participation and the ability to secure and sustain livelihoods are core concerns. Initiatives to involve youth in co-operatives in Lesotho and Uganda bring these two areas together and are of particular interest. The focus of this thesis is whether and how co-operatives provide opportunities for youth learning and the development of their capabilities and agency to achieve valued goals. The analysis is framed through conceptualisation of co-operatives as learning spaces within which theories of situated , learning are combined with the capability approach. Using qualitative and participatory methods to investigate youth engagement in co-operatives in Lesotho and Uganda the thesis argues that co- operatives provide situated social learning spaces where youth learn for development. Learning emerges within such spaces for: business and vocational knowledge and skills, personal development, collective learning based on trust and co-operator identity, and wider outcomes such as community engagement, enhanced relationships and networks and development of the co- operative form. Learning is, however, both enabled and restricted by: gender, the level of prior formal education, the networks of which a co-operative is a part and the type and success of a co-operative.","abstract_has_math":false,"creators":["Hartley, Sally Ann"],"institution":"The Open University","degree_name":"phd","degree_level":"doctoral","degree_discipline":null,"degree_department":null,"school":null,"contributors":[],"advisors":[],"committee_chairs":[],"committee_members":[],"year":2012,"date_issued":"2012","date_published":"2012","updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:02:45Z","subjects":[],"languages":["en"],"rights":[],"rights_urls":[],"identifier_entries":[]},"links":{"outbound_url":null,"outbound_label":null,"outbound_source":null},"metadata_groups":[{"id":"people","label":"People","entries":[{"key":"dc:creator","label":"Author","values":["Hartley, Sally Ann"]}]},{"id":"academic_context","label":"Academic Context","entries":[{"key":"dc:date","label":"Dc Date","values":["2012"]},{"key":"dc:date.issued","label":"Date","values":["2012"]},{"key":"dc:publisher.institution","label":"Dc Publisher Institution","values":["The Open University"]},{"key":"dc:relation.isreferencedby","label":"Dc Relation Isreferencedby","values":["https://oro.open.ac.uk/54667/"]},{"key":"dc:type","label":"Dc Type","values":["Thesis"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationlevel","label":"Dc Type Qualificationlevel","values":["doctoral"]},{"key":"dc:type.qualificationname","label":"Dc Type Qualificationname","values":["phd"]}]},{"id":"language_rights","label":"Language and Rights","entries":[{"key":"dc:language","label":"Dc Language","values":["en"]}]},{"id":"identifiers","label":"Identifiers","entries":[{"key":"dc:identifier.uri","label":"Identifier URI","values":["https://oro.open.ac.uk/54667/1/580651.pdf"]}]},{"id":"additional","label":"Additional Metadata","entries":[{"key":"dc:description.abstract","label":"Abstract","values":["With 2011 designated the United Nations Year of the Youth and 2012 the Year of the Co-operative this research contributes to issues raised by these two significant and timely events. The renaissance of co-operatives globally and their revival in countries in Africa has promoted interest and debate around co-operatives as collective values-based businesses and their potential to promote economic and social development and address poverty (UN, 2010). There is also increasing recognition that youth in Africa present both a potential and a challenge for development (UN, 2011). Youth access to education, civic participation and the ability to secure and sustain livelihoods are core concerns. Initiatives to involve youth in co-operatives in Lesotho and Uganda bring these two areas together and are of particular interest. The focus of this thesis is whether and how co-operatives provide opportunities for youth learning and the development of their capabilities and agency to achieve valued goals. The analysis is framed through conceptualisation of co-operatives as learning spaces within which theories of situated , learning are combined with the capability approach. Using qualitative and participatory methods to investigate youth engagement in co-operatives in Lesotho and Uganda the thesis argues that co- operatives provide situated social learning spaces where youth learn for development. Learning emerges within such spaces for: business and vocational knowledge and skills, personal development, collective learning based on trust and co-operator identity, and wider outcomes such as community engagement, enhanced relationships and networks and development of the co- operative form. Learning is, however, both enabled and restricted by: gender, the level of prior formal education, the networks of which a co-operative is a part and the type and success of a co-operative."]},{"key":"dc:format","label":"Dc Format","values":["application/pdf"]},{"key":"dc:title","label":"Title","values":["Learning for development through co-operation: the engagement of youth with co-operatives in Lesotho and Uganda"]}]}],"canonical_facts":{"dc:creator":["Hartley, Sally Ann"],"dc:date":["2012"],"dc:date.issued":["2012"],"dc:description.abstract":["With 2011 designated the United Nations Year of the Youth and 2012 the Year of the Co-operative this research contributes to issues raised by these two significant and timely events. The renaissance of co-operatives globally and their revival in countries in Africa has promoted interest and debate around co-operatives as collective values-based businesses and their potential to promote economic and social development and address poverty (UN, 2010). There is also increasing recognition that youth in Africa present both a potential and a challenge for development (UN, 2011). Youth access to education, civic participation and the ability to secure and sustain livelihoods are core concerns. Initiatives to involve youth in co-operatives in Lesotho and Uganda bring these two areas together and are of particular interest. The focus of this thesis is whether and how co-operatives provide opportunities for youth learning and the development of their capabilities and agency to achieve valued goals. The analysis is framed through conceptualisation of co-operatives as learning spaces within which theories of situated , learning are combined with the capability approach. Using qualitative and participatory methods to investigate youth engagement in co-operatives in Lesotho and Uganda the thesis argues that co- operatives provide situated social learning spaces where youth learn for development. Learning emerges within such spaces for: business and vocational knowledge and skills, personal development, collective learning based on trust and co-operator identity, and wider outcomes such as community engagement, enhanced relationships and networks and development of the co- operative form. Learning is, however, both enabled and restricted by: gender, the level of prior formal education, the networks of which a co-operative is a part and the type and success of a co-operative."],"dc:format":["application/pdf"],"dc:identifier.uri":["https://oro.open.ac.uk/54667/1/580651.pdf"],"dc:language":["en"],"dc:publisher.institution":["The Open University"],"dc:relation.isreferencedby":["https://oro.open.ac.uk/54667/"],"dc:title":["Learning for development through co-operation: the engagement of youth with co-operatives in Lesotho and Uganda"],"dc:type":["Thesis"],"dc:type.qualificationlevel":["doctoral"],"dc:type.qualificationname":["phd"]},"updated_at":"2026-07-24T05:02:45Z"}