賀川豊彦と協同組合運動 : 「社会改造」の視点から

抄録

Kagawa's activities began with a mission in Kobe, and later, he organized some social movements such as a labor union, a farmer's union, and so on. This paper examines how he tried to reconstruct society at that time. The most important aspect of Kagawa's activities was his co-operative movement. He aimed at the reconstruction of the capitalistic economy, which also meant training for an autonomous co-operative society and a spiritual education toward love. Kagawa was not merely a social refomer, but also a man intent on reconstructing society with high moral ideas. Kagawa's "brotherhood economics"is similar to that of the 1998 Nobel prize winner, Amartya Sen, who had ethics at the center of his economic theory. Moreover, Kagawa's idea of the co-operative is similar to The International Co-operative Alliance(ICA)statement on the co-operative values of self-help, democracy, equality, and solidarity in 1995. It still plays important role in our modern society.