Why mondragon? analyzing what works in overcoming inequalities

Research using the critical communicative methodology (CCM) aims to identify the elements that help overcome inequalities. Drawing on research on the Basque Mondragon Corporation (MC), the authors focus on two major elements such as, selecting research cases that have been shown to succeed in overcoming inequalities, and communicative data analysis to identify transformative and exclusionary dimensions, with a special emphasis on the former as a potential strategy to extend the successful model. Despite the current economic crisis, the Mondragon Corporation is a success story: It proves that a group can be globally competitive without giving up on cooperative principles. This article illustrates how these two methodological elements can be implemented in research practice. © The Author(s) 2011.