Are artesanal cooperatives in Guatemala unraveling?

Cooperatives are often instituted to increase socioeconomic opportunities f or rural people. While this goal may be achieved in some countries, the spe cific historical and structural circumstances of the Guatemalan cooperative system contradict this statement. The entrance of cooperatives into the wo rld market system and a change to a mass-marketing climate has altered rela tions of distribution and production. In particular, traditionally female-o rganized cooperatives and industries, such as for weaving, have been especi ally hard hit by these changes. This paper reports the findings from a four -month study of three artesanal cooperatives in highland Guatemala and of t he Guatemalan cooperative structure. These findings indicate that the adopt ion of federations of cooperatives to increase production for a world marke t has negatively altered the entire artesanal industry and has adversely af fected the socioeconomic activities of the small-business weaver.