Beyond Capitalism


Book Description

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, the work features many examples from the north and the south, to cover both the historically-advanced and late capitalist economies. It discusses such initiatives as participatory economics, the Mondragon experience, worker cooperatives in Europe and Latin America, solidarity economy in South Africa, and more. Written in an accessible manner, Beyond Capitalism will be an invaluable resource for any student of social movements and political thought and for anyone looking for alternative to today's ongoing systemic crises.




The Future is Degrowth


Book Description

We need to break free from the capitalist economy. Degrowth gives us the tools to bend its bars. Economic growth isn’t working, and it cannot be made to work. Offering a counter-history of how economic growth emerged in the context of colonialism, fossil-fueled industrialization, and capitalist modernity, The Future Is Degrowth argues that the ideology of growth conceals the rising inequalities and ecological destructions associated with capitalism, and points to desirable alternatives to it. Not only in society at large, but also on the left, we are held captive by the hegemony of growth. Even proposals for emancipatory Green New Deals or postcapitalism base their utopian hopes on the development of productive forces, on redistributing the fruits of economic growth and technological progress. Yet growing evidence shows that continued economic growth cannot be made compatible with sustaining life and is not necessary for a good life for all. This book provides a vision for postcapitalism beyond growth. Building on a vibrant field of research, it discusses the political economy and the politics of a non-growing economy. It charts a path forward through policies that democratise the economy, “now-topias” that create free spaces for experimentation, and counter-hegemonic movements that make it possible to break with the logic of growth. Degrowth perspectives offer a way to step off the treadmill of an alienating, expansionist, and hierarchical system. A handbook and a manifesto, The Future Is Degrowth is a must-read for all interested in charting a way beyond the current crises.




America Beyond Capitalism


Book Description

America Beyond Capitalism is a book whose time has come. Gar Alperovitz's expert diagnosis of the long-term structural crisis of the American economic and political system is accompanied by detailed, practical answers to the problems we face as a society. Unlike many books that reserve a few pages of a concluding chapter to offer generalized, tentative solutions, Alperovitz marshals years of research into emerging "new economy" strategies to present a comprehensive picture of practical bottom-up efforts currently underway in thousands of communities across the United States. All democratize wealth and empower communities, not corporations: worker-ownership, cooperatives, community land trusts, social enterprises, along with many supporting municipal, state and longer term federal strategies as well. America Beyond Capitalism is a call to arms, an eminently practical roadmap for laying foundations to change a faltering system that increasingly fails to sustain the great American values of equality, liberty and meaningful democracy.




Wageless Life


Book Description

Drawing up alternate ways to “make a living” beyond capitalism To live in this world is to be conditioned by capital. Once paired with Western democracy, unfettered capitalism has led to a shrinking economic system that squeezes out billions of people—creating a planet of surplus populations. Wageless Life is a manifesto for building a future beyond the toxic failures of late-stage capitalism. Daring to imagine new social relations, new modes of economic existence, and new collective worlds, the authors provide skills and tools for perceiving—and living in— a post-capitalist future. Forerunners: Ideas First Short books of thought-in-process scholarship, where intense analysis, questioning, and speculation take the lead




Moving Beyond Capitalism


Book Description

The book speaks to the widespread quest for concrete alternative ways forward 'beyond capitalism' in the face of the prevailing corporatocracy and a capitalist system in crisis. It examines a number of institutions and practices now being built in the nooks and crannies of present societies and that point beyond capitalism toward a more equal, participatory, and democratic society – institutions such as cooperatives, public banks, the commons, economic democracy. This seminal collection of critical studies draws on academic and activist voices from the U.S. and Canada, Mexico, Cuba, and Argentina, and from a variety of theoretical-political perspectives – Marxism, anarchism, feminism, and Zapatismo.




Beyond Global Capitalism


Book Description

This book compiles the presentations and discussions from the international symposium “Beyond Global Capitalism” that was held with the contributions of Emmanuel Todd, Ha-Joon Chang, and other scholars in Kyoto, Japan, in 2013. The book is intended make the reader aware that global capitalism, or globalism, has increased its power in recent years, bringing about a variety of harmful effects to the peoples of the world. Drawing upon a variety of academic disciplines including economics, political economic science, economic thought, anthropology, history, and political science, the contributors to this book identify theories and strategies for overcoming the worldwide problems that have been caused by global capitalism. The discussions presented here foster the development of theoretical and practical frameworks for a global economy that moves beyond global capitalism. They also argue for the development of a stable, rich, and resilient economy and society that enhances the well-being of people all over the world in the twenty-first century.




Design after Capitalism


Book Description

How design can transcend the logics, structures, and subjectivities of capitalism: a framework, theoretical grounding, and practical principles. The designed things, experiences, and symbols that we use to perceive, understand, and perform our everyday lives are much more than just props. They directly shape how we live. In Design after Capitalism, Matthew Wizinsky argues that the world of industrial capitalism that gave birth to modern design has been dramatically transformed. Design today needs to reorient itself toward deliberate transitions of everyday politics, social relations, and economies. Looking at design through the lens of political economy, Wizinsky calls for the field to transcend the logics, structures, and subjectivities of capitalism—to combine design entrepreneurship with social empowerment in order to facilitate new ways of producing those things, symbols, and experiences that make up everyday life. After analyzing the parallel histories of capitalism and design, Wizinsky offers some historical examples of anticapitalist, noncapitalist, and postcapitalist models of design practice. These range from the British Arts and Crafts movement of the nineteenth century to contemporary practices of growing furniture or biotextiles and automated forms of production. Drawing on insights from sociology, philosophy, economics, political science, history, environmental and sustainability studies, and critical theory—fields not usually seen as central to design—he lays out core principles for postcapitalist design; offers strategies for applying these principles to the three layers of project, practice, and discipline; and provides a set of practical guidelines for designers to use as a starting point. The work of postcapitalist design can start today, Wizinsky says—with the next project.




Migration Beyond Capitalism


Book Description

Harshly exploited migrant labour plays a fundamental role in the political economy of contemporary capitalism. The abstract and utopian theorising of many liberals and leftists on the migration question often ignores or downplays patterns of displacement and brutal class dynamics, which divide and weaken working people while empowering the ruling class. In this important new book, Hannah Cross provides a sober analysis of the class antagonisms of migration in the context of the nation, social democracy, and the racialized ordering of the world. Bringing Marxist methodology and strategy to a careful analysis of existing emancipatory movements, she sets out the programmes and approaches that are needed to promote global worker solidarity and create a future in which cheap labour is no longer a mainstay of wealthy economies. This focus on the labouring classes allows her to identify some important new directions for migration in a world beyond capitalism, exploitation and injustice. This book will be essential reading for students, scholars and general readers interested in the politics and political economy of migration in a world unhelpfully caught between racist authoritarian capitalism and the wishful-thinking of contemporary left-liberalism.




Climate Solutions Beyond Capitalism


Book Description

Millions around the world are demanding action and actively seeking solutions to the unfolding climate crisis. The dialogue at the top is confined to solutions that align with the laws of capitalism and unbridled economic growth. But what if we look to solutions beyond how we currently structure our economies? Climate Solutions Beyond Capitalism makes the case that socialism provides the framework for solving the crisis and demonstrates how capitalism acts as a barrier to a shift in our relationship to each other and the planet, crucial for humanity's survival. Climate Solutions Beyond Capitalism outlines practices being implemented and studied around the world and conveys both urgency and optimism for the liberation of humanity and the planet. Climate Solutions Beyond Capitalism is an urgent call to action to transform the inhumane, unsustainable capitalist system and take an evolutionary leap forward in the way we live and interact with each other and the natural world. -- from Climate Solutions Beyond Capitalism Praise for Climate Solutions Beyond Capitalism "Essential guide to averting climate catastrophe that takes the most important, and most ignored approach -- complete systemic change." -- Abby Martin, The Empire Files "I highly recommend this valuable, well-documented, concise guide explaining how capitalism is the generator of dangerous climate change as well as other assaults on humans and nature, but also identifying the critically important eco-socialist solutions." -- David Schwartzman, Professor Emeritus, author About the author: Tina Landis is an organizer in the environmental and social justice movements. She works in air quality regulation and climate protection, and holds a certificate in Sustainable Management from the University of California, Berkeley. She is a member of the Party for Socialism and Liberation and writes for Liberation News. Paperback, 80 pages, illustrated and indexed. $7.95 March 2020, Liberation Media ISBN: 978-0-9910303-6-1, Library of Congress Control Number: 2020934000




Health Care Under the Knife


Book Description

Disobedience : doctor workers unite! / Howard Waitzkin -- Becoming employees : the deprofessionalization and emerging social class position of health professionals / Matt Anderson -- The degradation of medical labor and the meaning of quality in health care / Gordon Schiff and Sarah Winch -- The political economy of health reform / David Himmelstein and Steffie Woolhandler -- The transformation of the medical industrial complex : financialization, the corporate sector, and monopoly capital / Matt Anderson and Robb Burlage -- The pharmaceutical industry in the context of contemporary capitalism / Joel Lexchin -- Obamacare : the neoliberal model comes home to roost in the United States, if we let it / Howard Waitzkin and Ida Hellander -- Austerity and health / Adam Gaffney and Carles Muntaner -- Imperialism's health component / Howard Waitzkin and Rebeca Jasso-Aguilar -- U.S. philanthrocapitalism and the global health agenda : the Rockefeller and Gates foundations, past and present / Anne-Emanuelle Birn and Judith Richter -- Resisting the imperial order and building an alternative future in medicine and public health / Rebeca Jasso-Aguilar and Howard Waitzkin -- The failure of Obamacare and a revision of the single payer proposal after a quarter century of struggle / Adam Gaffney, David Himmelstein, and Steffie Woolhandler -- Overcoming pathological normalcy : mental health challenges in the coming transformation / Carl Ratner -- Confronting the social and environmental determinants of health / Carles Muntaner and Rob Wallace -- Conclusion : moving beyond capitalism for our health / Adam Gaffney and Howard Waitzkin