ABSTRACT
This chapter discusses two current phenomena or two trends of the present historical moment that are in many ways complementary: denationalisation and self-help. It focuses expressly on the role of self-supporting processes and their assumption of possible functions in the economic infrastructure; in particular those geared towards measures in the environmental sector. The relevant literature laments 'the missing institutional dimension' of environmental economics and practice. The chapter discusses reference to the consumer co-operative movement is to make clear that self-help organisations are by no means a novelty in European social history. It establishes the fact that a large number of self-help organisations are active in the areas of economic infrastructure and environmental protection, even though the strong trend of such organisations to expand their activities into the field of environmental issues is often overlooked. The importance of a democratically institutionalised social infrastructure is clearly recognised in many areas Of life.
