Introduction -- Administered interdependences vs spatial integration : the case of agricultural service cooperatives in Kenya / by Bjorn Gyllström -- Capturing the peasants through cooperatives : the case of Ethiopia / by Michael Ståhl -- State, cooperatives and development : Egypt 1908-1988 / by Hans Holmén -- Cooperatives in rural development in India : modern inputs, production structure and stratification in Sivsi Taluk, Karnataka State / by Neelambar Hatti and Franz-Michael Rundquist