The article is devoted to historical and economic analysis of the book “Articles on Cooperation” by Andrei Vasilievich Baev, representative of the Ossetian scientific intellectuals of the early twentieth century. The book is a synthesis of a number of journalistic and scientific articles of the author on the formation of various forms of cooperative organizations in the mountain societies of the North Caucasus. Cooperation was understood by A.V. Baev as the future effective part of Terek region as an essential component of the market relations. The author regarded cooperatives as a way of mobilizing internal forces for revitalizing and modernizing the economy of the Northern Caucasus, as a powerful tool for stimulating activity of the mountain labor masses that are the basis of the civil society. Cooperation was considered by the author as a variant of the system transformation of highlanders’ traditional production, turning it into the modern sector of the Russian economy. The path of cooperation gave chance to avoid acute contradictions and conflicts inherent in the mechanism of initial accumulation of capital, to avoid the dramatic conflict, considering economic interests of the working force. Baev highlighted competitive advantages of cooperation within the framework of a market economy, urban and rural, in cooperation with municipal organs and zemstvo. He attempted to identify best organizational form of credit cooperatives for the mountain peoples of rural Bank. “Articles on Cooperation” demonstrate the author's erudition, great scientific knowledge of the entire modern literature on cooperation, contain original and promising ideas. The book is a major contribution to the theory of cooperation. A.V. Baev’s publications played a role in the spread of cooperative ideas, informing the public of the North Caucasus on foreign and Russian cooperative practice. Scientific heritage of A.V. Baev deserves thorough study.

Keywords: North Caucasus, Terek region, economic development, cooperation, Ossetian intellectuals, rural bank.

References:

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