Beyond capitalism : building democratic alternatives for today and the future / edited by Jeff Shantz and José Brendan Macdonald.

Format:

Book

Contributor:

Shantz, Jeff, editor.

Macdonald, José Brendan, editor.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Capitalism.

Democracy--Economic aspects.

Democracy.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (304 p.)

Place of Publication:

New York, NY : Bloomsbury Academic, 2013.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Capitalism as a global system barely allows the needs of the majority of the world's population to be met. Whether from an industrialized country such as the US or from South Africa, the need for an alternative can be felt all over the world. It is clear nowadays that, due to the non-democratic nature and inadequacies of capitalism, another system must take its place. Such a process has already begun through the cooperative movement, which this book examines along with other initiatives. Featuring essays by international scholars and activists from various spheres of the anti-capitalist left,

Contents:

HalfTitle; Title; Copyright; Dedication; Contents; Acknowledgments; About the Contributors; Foreword; CHAPTER ONE The Challenge of a Democratic Economy; The two-centuries-old liberalism in force; There arises the ideal of equality and solidarity; The struggle of the ideologies4; The point of departure, the passage, and the point of arrival of our people's solidarian utopia; CHAPTER TWO The Parecon Proposal; Parecon's values; Parecon's institutions; Parecon's virtues; CHAPTER THREE Economic Democracy through Prout, Progressive Utilization Theory; Economic democracy

Providing goods and services to the peopleThe rational distribution of resources; Prout's ecological and spiritual perspective; The five fundamental principles of Prout; Conclusion; CHAPTER FOUR Anarchy in Action: Especifismo and Working-Class Organizing; Especifismo and the platform; Specifics: Especifist perspectives; Social insertion; Especifismo in Brazil: The FAG; Especifismo in Argentina: AUCA and the OSL; Conclusion; CHAPTER FIVE An Economy for the Common Good with Social Currencies; Solidarian Economy: Some recent history

Complementary currencies and social money: How they emerged and where they are todayA particular case study: The Argentinean model of "barter club" transmuted in Brazil; Is an enduring bond of common good between Solidarian Economies and social currencies possible?; CHAPTER SIX Innovation, the Cooperative Movement, and Self-Management: From the Technical School to the Centers of Research and; The concept of self-management at MCC3; The Mondragón experience9; Facing the crisis in an atmosphere of transformations; The Ikerlan and Ideko technological centers33

By way of conclusion: Innovation, the cooperative phenomenon, and self-management at MCCCHAPTER SEVEN Worker Occupations and Worker Cooperatives-Examining Lessons from the 1970s and 1980s; Introduction; Occupation versus strike: Relative superiority; Occupations in Britain in historical context; The specter of workers' control?; Cooperatives as worker self-management: Theory and practice; Conclusion: Impact and lessons of historical experience; CHAPTER EIGHT From Direct Action to Workers Assemblies: Unions and the G20 Protests in Toronto; Which side are you on again?

Days of action or dead on arrivalLimiting structures; Promising developments; Conclusion; CHAPTER NINE The Emerging Paradoxical Possibility of a Democratic Economy; CHAPTER TEN The Social Economy in Venezuela: Between the Will and the Possibility1; The social economy as an economy of participation: The Bolivarian process as an alternative to the neoliberal model; The constitutional bases for a social and people's economy5; The reinvention of the role of the state in the social economy: The missions as public policies with people's participation; Map of the principal Venezuelan missions8

Lights and shadows in the Venezuelan social economy

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781623567972

1623567971

9781623563646

162356364X

9781623568771

1623568773

OCLC:

842882926