ABSTRACT
Three factors need to be taken into account in any attempt to understand the background of the Mondragon experience. Firstly, the degree of industrialisation that was to be found in the Basque Provinces in the 1930s. Secondly, a labour movement which, on balance, showed positive inclinations towards the cooperative phenomenon. And lastly, Basque Nationalism, and the tension between the Basque Provinces and Spain’s central government. These themes will be introduced in the following section of this chapter.
