Cooperative movement in Nepal and elsewhere is seen with much expectation and also with
some skepticism. The expectation is for an inclusive and democratic society where people are
economically empowered along with political one. The skepticism is because of its loose
organizational structure, weak monitoring mechanism, and political orientation. This paper is
an attempt to analyze cooperatives from the political, economic, and social perspectives and
highlight the socio-economic areas where they could better perform, particularly in the context
of post conflict transformational Nepal. The first section of the paper delves on state polity,
democracy and cooperatives. The second section discusses economic democracy and the role
of cooperatives in strengthening economic democracy. The third section analyses the role of
cooperatives from human security perspectives and highlights the key dimensions of human
security wherein cooperatives could be instrumental to achieve them. The fourth section briefly
touches upon the role of saving and credit cooperatives in financial inclusion and inclusive
growth. The fifth section flags on the major issues related to the rise of cooperative movement.
And, the final section concludes the paper with some observations.