Breakout Session - New Keyword: Cooperatives This is the era of disasters and crises. Due to European financial crisis and the U.S double dip recession, the world economy is too uncertain to predict. The 99% has been raging up against the greed of the 1% worldwide. Is there an alternative for such uncertain and chaotic time? The breakout session ‘Cooperatives, New Economic Movement’, was an effort to find a solution for the limits of market economy through cooperatives. Johnston Birchall, a Social Policy professor at Sterling University of U.K., argued, “In the midst of recent financial crises, cooperatives in the U.S. and Europe did not need to depend on bail-out program and even generated revenues. Cooperatives have the potential power that can relieve the damages from the recession and revive the economy.” The main idea of his argument was that, different from for-profit businesses, cooperatives have low risk and are sustainable since they provide products and services in order only to meet the needs of the final consumers. Kurimoto Akira, the director of Japanese Consumers’ Cooperative Union, introduced how Japanese cooperatives responded after Fukushima accident. She said, “After the disasters, cooperatives played an important role in providing food, water and daily necessities to citizens for them to lead normal lives. Cooperatives also initiated collecting donations.” Kim Ki-tae, the president of Cooperative Institute, explained the current status and flow of Korean cooperatives that are rapidly growing. He added, “Basic laws on cooperatives must be enacted as soon as possible in order to expand cooperatives to the secondary and tertiary industries.”