Book Description
Exploring the challenge of rehabilitating countries after civil wars, this study finds that attempting to transform war-shattered states into liberal democracies with market economies can backfire badly. Roland Paris contends that the rapid introduction of democracy and capitalism in the absence of effective institutions can increase rather than decrease the danger of renewed fighting. A more effective approach to post-conflict peacebuilding would be to introduce political and economic reform in a gradual and controlled manner.
Customer Reviews:
Provocative but off the mark.......2007-06-21
This is a provocative and useful book. Besides making a case that the attempt to impose a liberal political and economic order on states recovering from civil war often fails and is sometimes a disaster, Paris provides a nice introduction to several of the most important recent attempts at international post-conflict reconstruction.
But Paris' argument is oversimplified, and sometimes just plain wrong. He paints the international effort as ideologically unified around a liberal order, when in fact those carrying out the economic program (neoliberalism) scarcely talk to those carrying out the political reforms and reconstruction. In fact, the complaint that the two work at cross purposes -- with World Bank and IMF reformers insisting on economic austerity ("fiscal stability"), liberalization, and privatization policies that undermine efforts to provide people with a "peace payoff" -- has become common among those who work and write in this area.
Paris also worries that, in failing to address the poverty and inequality that lay at the root of civil conflicts, the international community has laid the groundwork for future conflicts even in success cases like El Salvador. In fact, the evidence is that political reforms that incorporate dissident elites into the political system satisfied the central "root cause" of civil war. There is lots of inequality and poverty around the world, but it rarely leads to civil war without a political leadership determined to mobilize people against what they see as a repressive and exclusionary regime.
Finally, Paris proposes an alternative model that would have the international community playing a more directive role, taking over the civil administration of countries recovering from civil conflict until institutions are strong enough to manage democracy and economic liberalization. But he ignores the fact that most civil conflicts leave governments standing that are strong enough -- and determined enough -- to resist international meddling. Even in Cambodia, where the UN was given sweeping powers to oversee the civil administration, the Hun Sen government was determined to maintain control and there was not much UNTAC could do to stop it. The illusion that "we" can just step in and impose our agenda is widespread in this country and accounts for the notion that the United States could (and, for some, still can) bring peace and democracy to Iraq if we could just commit enough time and troops to the effort. Paris should ground his recommendations in the real world and not in American fantasies of omnipotence.
This Book Deserves More Attention.......2006-07-21
It is stunning that so little attention has been given to reviewing this book yet. This volume is one that advances preconditions for successful democratic nation building, based upon a series of recent case studies (such as Angola, Rwanda, Cambodia, Liberia, Bosnia, Croatia, Nicaragua, El Salvador, Guatemala, Namibia, and Mozambique). This is one of a series of works (such as The RAND volume, America's Role in Nation-Building;Fukuyama's State-Building; etc.) that address what it takes to create new democratic states that will ensure.
Roland Paris addresses an issue that initially seems far afield--peacebuilding. However, his analysis ends up very much on the mark for better understanding democratic nation building. For Paris, peacebuilding represents ". . .postconflict missions". . .with ". . .the goal of preventing a recurrence of violence" (Paris, 2004: 2). What does this have to do with nation building? As he explains (2004: 5):
Peacebuilding missions in the 1990s were guided by a
generally unstated but widely accepted theory of conflict
management: the notion that promoting "liberalization" in
countries that had recently experienced civil war would
help to create the conditions for a stable and lasting
peace. In the political realm, liberalization means
democratization, or the promotion of periodic and genuine
elections, constitutional limitations on the exercise of
government power, and respect for basic civil
liberties. . . .
On the economic side, liberalization refers, according to Paris, to the movement toward a market economy model. His study of a series of postconflict situations finds this liberal economic democracy model a common end goal of peacebuilders. In effect, what he terms peacebuilding looks very much like what others call democratic nation building.
Paris argues that the most promising strategy is IBL---Institutionalization Before Liberalization, that is, that peacebuilders should not immediately move toward economic and political liberalization. Rather, they should first (re)build institutions so that there is a stable base. Among the steps in this process are:
1. Wait until conditions are conducive for elections to
take place.
2. Design electoral systems to reward moderate parties
and candidates.
3. Work to develop a stable civil society.
4. Head off the emergence of "hate" speech.
5. Develop conflict-reducing economic policies.
6. In short, rebuild effective state institutions.
For Paris, there needs to be a two-step process: first, build institutions as a foundation; second, construct liberal structures on that foundation.
This means time and hard work. For successful democratic nation-building, patience is needed--and understanding thast the process must be carefully managed with uncertain outcomes. In short, this is a must read on the subject of what it takes to produce successful nation-building.
Amazon.com
In his bestselling 1995 call to arms, When Corporations Rule the World, David C. Korten first attempted to raise public consciousness about the potentially disastrous consequences of economic globalization and the expansion of corporate power. Now, in his provocative new work, The Post-Corporate World: Life After Capitalism, he goes further by defining these dual ills as a collective cancer that will ultimately destroy the larger society upon which they actually depend for survival.
Containment of this cancer, Korten suggests, is a wholly inadequate remedy. Rather, a "curative regime"--consisting of measures aimed at "virtually eliminating the institution of the limited liability for-profit public corporation as we know it"--is necessary to save us from an otherwise inevitable fate. The book opens with Korten's downbeat view of capitalism infecting "democracy, markets and life itself." Its following three sections are much more optimistic, however, as he focuses on ways both individuals and the community can reorganize their institutional and policy choices to "eliminate the economic pathology that plagues us and create truly democratic, market-based, life-centered societies." Only by intentionally building this radical new post-corporate world, he boldly proposes, will a sustainable community be created that truly meets our future needs. --Howard Rothman
Book Description
This book examines the growing gap between the promises of the new global capitalism and the reality of financial insecurity, inequality, social breakdown, spiritual emptiness, and environmental destruction. A well-reasoned, deeply spiritual look at the current economic system spinning out of control. He draws on insights from biology and evolutionary principles, making economic terms and principles more understandable through the use of simple metaphors of living systems.
Customer Reviews:
This book simply does not deliver.......2002-05-31
In titling his book "The Post-Corporate World : Life After Capitalism," you'd think that the author would at least IMAGINE a world without corporations and without capitalism. He does not. He can not. He proceeds to knock the market economy, calling capitalism a cancer, but offers nothing to take its place. This book is only a compliation of his negative feelings about the world the way it is. Amazingly, his only meager suggestions are for people to buy from small businesses and to avoid buying from large corporations. He repeats over and over again throughout the book that capitalism is a cancer, as if repeating it would make it so... He seems to think that small businesses are not practicing capitalism, and that just ...
Capitalism Is Cancer.......2002-05-30
Many people have winced at Korton's now ecological turn. They would rather he simply kept to pure economics, facts and theories, and dump the New Age spin he picked up from biologist Mae-Wan Ho. They were hoping that "The Post-Corporate World" would simply be Part II of his last sizzler, "When Corporations Ruled the World." They see the soft-headed ecological metaphor as a meaningless distraction that will only serve the interests of the enemy -- i.e., number-crunching CEOs, who have no time (after all, time is money) for ecological quackery.
In my opinion, "When Corporations Ruled the World" does not need a sequel. It did the job perfectly. Nor will taking a simply factual stand against the global corporate juggernaut fundamentally alter things. This is what Korten is driving at in his book. He believees we need to understand the world on radically different terms. We need to approach reality with a new story and a new bag of metaphors -- because the old ones have not been doing the job. If you simply want a truckload of facts disavowing capitalism's ability to meet human needs (and by that, I mean all humans -- not just 1 percent of the population), read his first book. It will not only alarm you, but it will arm you to the hilt with anti-corporate firepower for the next time you enter a debate on capitalism's merits. If you want a richer analysis of the inherent paradoxes of capitalism, and a more thorough understanding of what is necessary to remedy the current situation, read this book. The books serve two different functions: The last book was by and large descriptive, whereas this book is heavy on prescription.
Despite what our hard-headed, number-crunching economists might tell you, capitalism is indeed a lot like a cancer. "Cancer occurs when genetic damage causes a cell to forget that it is part of a larger body, the healthy function of which is essential to its own survival. The cell begins to seek its own growth without regard to the consequences for the whole, and ultimately destroys the body that feeds it. As I came to learn more about the course of cancer's development within the body, I cam to realize that the reference to capitalism as a cancer is less a metaphor than a clinical diagnosis of a pathology to which market economic are prone in the absence of adequate citizen and governmental oversight."
In her ground-breaking book, "If You Love This Planet: A Plan to Heal the Earth," the now-famous physicist Helen Caldicott wrote, "as a physician I examine the dying planet as do a dying patient. The earth has a natural system of interacting homeostatic mechanisms similar to the human body's. If one system is diseased, like the ozone layer, then other systems develop abnormalities in function-the crops will die, the plankton will be damaged, and the eyes of all creatures on the planet will become diseased and vision impaired.
"We must have the tenacity and courage to examine the various disease processes afflicting our planetary home. But an accurate and meticulous diagnosis is not enough. We never cure patients by announcing that they are suffering from meningococcal meningitis or cancer of the bladder. Unless we are prepared to look further for the cause, or etiology, of the disease process, the patient will not be cured. Once we have elucidated the etiology, we can prescribe appropriate treatments." (Caldicott, 1991)
As you can see, Korton was not the first person to understand our world as a network of interrelated systems that function much like the human body and other ecological systems. But with this book Korton successfully assays the disease of our capitalist system, elucidates its causes (or etiology) and prescribes an appropriate treatment. In the truest sense of the word, Korten is here acting as a Ph.D (read, doctor) of economics, and capitalism -- as well as your mind and its metaphors -- are the patient.
True, the book does have a more "holistic" flavor, as one reviewer put it, but don't let that scare you away. The book has received unanimously high marks form all reveiwers. From consumers to CEOs, everyone profits from reading this book.
Incredible. A must read........2002-05-04
David Korten vividly describes the potential state of the world. This book takes a wonderfully complex topic and summates it briefly and simply. The alternatives to global plutocracy are made clear and ample citation is provided. I have recommended this book to a myriad of friends and can only hope that many more people stumble upon it.
He's right, now what?.......2002-02-21
It would be difficult for any rational, curious, open-minded intellectual to disagree with Korten's position. The problem is that the vast majority of the world's population are not rational, curious, open-minded intellectuals. They want one-sentence definitions and convenient labels so that they can pretend to understand something that eludes them. Another major flaw: it is impossible to fight the overwhelmingly powerful establishment head-on. What we need is an alternative system for those of us who choose a better life...an alternative that does not threaten the status quo directly but gradually changes it from the inside out...one that requires no sacfifice and only benefit. Check out what the infobeings are doing to make this vision a reality.
A Solid Effort!.......2001-06-01
This book was written as a call to arms. It builds on many themes developed in Korten’s previous book, When Corporations Rule the World (1995). Many in the world of business and finance will not like this book because it posits the radical restructuring of economic systems, specifically suggesting the elimination of capitalism. This book was meant for CEOs who have the power to institute the changes Korten recommends. However, its radical perspective probably means that the book will be more widely read by CEOs of corporations which already have an environmental focus and by the leaders of environmental organization. Recommended to any executive who is interested in a different point of view about the financial world’s role in environmental concerns.
Book Description
After Capitalism is the apex of the life’s work of one of the most respected scholars of the American workplace. For nearly half a century, Seymour Melman has been an influential commentatoron capitalism, militarism and their discontents. In
After Capitalism he explores a growing trend in capitalist systems worldwide: workplace democracy.
The end of the Cold War in 1991 inspired an unprecedented outburst of triumphalist rhetoric among proponents of unfettered capitalism. Free-marketeers believed that we were witnessing “the end of history,” and proclaimed that the market economy was here to stay, that all alternatives had been proven inferior. Melman, in dissent, tracks the increasing social and economic inequities and the resulting cries for workplace reform.
He points out the ominous parallels between the Soviet Union’s planned economy and the relentless onward march of American capitalism. Just as the Soviet planned economy venerated “the State” above all else, American capitalism views the health and eternal expansion of the free market as the ultimate goal: both propagate vast and harmful income gaps, both rely on and promote militarism—and neither leaves much room for consideration of workers’ well-being. Melman analyzes the adverse economic impact of these flaws and oversights, which have led to “grave production weaknesses in the U.S. economy,” and he suggests an alternative to current economic organization that holds out the promise of both greater fairness and equity and more soundly balanced production.
“Workplace democracy,” in which workers actively participate in the management of their workplace, is gaining ground in venues as diverse as Israeli kibbutzim and Basque factories. Melman explains how workplace democracy can, and why it should, be implemented in America.
After Capitalism is the new century’s first essential book about labor: thoughtful, humane, at once commonsensical and revolutionary, Melman’s prescriptions can inspire changes in the way the world works.
Customer Reviews:
A thorough but dry and repetitive analysis.......2005-12-11
Although After Capitalism examines the inherent flaws in modern state capitalism with exhaustive thoroughness, the book is exceedingly boring; the crushing machine of our hierarchical society is described with the sort of prose you'd find in an instruction manual for assembling a desk. This might be excusable (it is, after all, an economic treatise) if Melman managed to turn his critique into a map for a society after capitalism but the book never quite seems to get there. There are vague and repetitive references to attempts by workers to "disalienate" themselves but Melman never explores the workers' efforts with the sort of detail he reserves for outlining the architecture of the Military-Industrial Complex. In all, the book was informative but I'm certain there are tomes out there that manage to portray a more evocative vision of a postcapitalist world.
Book Description
After Capitalism: Prout's Vision for a New World sheds light on the Progressive Utilization Theory, or Prout, a socio-economic model based on decentralized economic democracy, cooperative enterprise and the ethics of inclusion. Foreword by Noam Chomsky, with contributions by Frei Betto, Marcos Arruda, Johan Galtung, Leonardo Boff, Sohail Inayatullah, Ravi Batra, Mark Friedman.
The book asserts that capitalism contains the seeds of its own destruction, based as it is on greed, intense competition and the concentration of wealth in the hands of a few. In contrast, Prout provides a model of economic development grounded in universal values. It seeks to balance regional self-reliant economic development with ecological protection, and encourages creativity and innovation.
In his preface to the book, Noam Chomsky stated, "Alternative visions are crucial at this moment in history. Prout's cooperative model of economic democracy, based on cardinal human values and sharing the resources of the planet for the welfare of everyone, deserves our serious consideration." Historian Howard Zinn, author of the best-selling A People's History of the United States, wrote: "After Capitalism is refreshingly original. It is spiritual and utopian while remaining grounded in reality. Its analysis is intelligent and its vision inspiring."
Customer Reviews:
Wisdom and a way to use it........2007-08-08
All about "Progressive Utility Theory". Best appreciated and understood after reading economics texts by Dr. Ravi Batra. It is an outstanding example of clear and purposeful thinking through and out of the present world dilemna.
Provides working examples and provides hope in an era of otherwise short supply. It cannot be recommended too highly. If only politicians could read (and read this book and those of Dr. Ravi Batra) the world outlook could be hopeful.
The easiest to understand book on Economics I've read.......2007-06-01
Reading After Capitalism, I'm reminded of E.F. Schumachers (not the F1 driver!) wonderful book "Small is Beautiful". It just makes wonderful sense, but this is not a utopian story. The propositions about how we should manage societies wealth are not only compassionate, they are quite achievable and practical.
I find the idea of a socio-economic theory based on the ancient wisdom of yoga fascinating. This also makes a lot of sense. Millions of people are finding that yoga practice can solve their personal health problems, both physical and mental. Yoga includes the oldest system of human psychology in the world. It can help us understand a great deal about human behaviour, and economic systems and societies are all products of human behaviour. It seems that yoga philosophy also has something very useful to teach us about how we manage our society, our economy and our environment.
This new socio-economic theory of Prout, described so clearly in Dada's book, gives me a real hope for the future. I think these ideas will make a real difference to the world.
Sarkar's Unknown Genius.......2004-04-22
Possibly centuries from now when the world has overcome hunger and war and has established a far more humane economic and social order than what we have, people will look back in the past and painfully regret that they did not have the opportunity to be born at the time of Prabhat Rainjain Sarkar, much less get the opportunity to speak to and meet him.
Sarkar's lofty genius, while relatively unheralded in our time, will be looked back upon in awe at such distant time when his ideas will become the basis of that future society's peace and progress.
Dada Maheshvarananda, as a disciple of PR Sarkar and as a reading light in the worldwide PROUT movement, is letting us now that it is not necessary to wait fot the future to unfold. We can implement PROUT ideas now and the book describes how this already being done in some parts of the world by smart people in search of something better.
This is a 'must read' book for those who see no future in global capitalism and sincerely desire a better world.
A Wealth of Information and Ideas.......2003-10-19
The most important contribution of this book is that it presents an alternative to the free market economy we have taken for granted.
Especially after the fall of communism, most people have taken capitalism as the given order of life instead of seeing it for what it really is: An economic system that is dominant at a given point of time. 'After Capitalism' shows us that there are alternative ideas out there, and presents those ideas with force and power, backed up by support of some of the most powerful alternative thinkers of our age, such as Noam Chomsky, P.R. Sarkar and Johan Galtung.
Whether you are a staunch free market supporter or a member of the anti-globalisation movement, this book is important for any person who seriously wants to analyse the issues at hand.
If you are a free market supporter, you will find that 'the other' view is actually based on well founded facts and rational ideas, and not just on thoughtless rebellion without a proper ideology. If you do not understand people of different views, it is hard to argue with them!
If you are already critical to the current economic system, you will find here a wealth of information and theories to shape your thoughts and ideas and discover alternatives to the present system.
In either case, it is an important book that I strongly recommend that everyone interested in the current state of the world should read.
Easy to read and balanced.......2003-07-29
Visions of the future are often fanciful with no understanding of the weight of history, of structures that oppress. Or visions are overly detailed, becoming a burden on the creativity and the possibility of innovation for future generations.
However, in this book, Maheshvarnanada strikes a perfect balance.
As well, populist books on capitalism become lost in endless multinational conspiracy theory without an adequate understanding of the deeper structures and worldviews that underlie the origination of the capitalist system and its likely transforming in the mid-range future.
Again, Maheshvarnananda takes a balanced view and should be credited.
Book Description
"Michael Albert is an important thinker who takes us beyond radical denunciations and pretentious â€~analysis' to a thoughtful, profound meditation on what a good society can be like."-Howard Zinn
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"It is to Michael Albert's everlasting credit that he has worked tirelessly to grapple with the very difficult questions of what a truly democratic economy might look like, and how it might work. Albert's thoughtful contribution deserves wide attention."-Robert W. McChesney
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In this lucid political memoir, veteran anti-capitalist activist Michael Albert offers an ardent defense of the project to transform global inequality. Albert, a uniquely visionary figure, recounts a life of uncompromised commitment to creating change one step at a time. Whether chronicling the battles against the Vietnam War waged on Boston campuses or the challenges of creating living, breathing alternative social models, Albert brings a keen and unwavering sense of justice to his work, pointing the way forward for the next generation.
Customer Reviews:
Valuable lessons and interesting vignettes.......2007-10-22
Michael Albert, a prolific radical writer on everything from economics to gender issues, history and physics, has published his memoirs under the title "Remembering Tomorrow". Although he himself admits that writing isn't his greatest asset, the book is very readable and accessible, and of direct interest to everyone with left-wing sympathies. Albert tells us everything, from his family background to his activism at MIT (where he was expelled for being succesful at resisting the Vietnam War), from his failed PhD attempt in Economics to his collective publishing undertaking known as South End Press, and much more.
The format of the book is a series of short vignettes, most of them no more than two or three pages, where Albert tells us of some experience he has had and the important lesson for left-wing activism he learned from it. Although many of these insights and experiences truly are useful and interesting to read (for me as a young leftist), it can get tiresome after a while: sometimes the "moral of the story" gets a little too pushy. Michael Albert also describes some of his theoretical work in colloquial terms, explaining why he ditched Marxism (in my view not a very convincing point), how he came to the theory of the "coordinator class" and its importance for his worldview, and the struggles he has had with academia. He has a remarkable array of friends who are well-known in left-wing circles, such as Noam Chomsky, Barbara Ehrenreich, and Howard Zinn, which lends additional color to the book. Also described are his many collaborations with his erstwhile best friend Robin Hahnel, many of which are quite good books - it is sad to read that their friendship has ended.
Albert's many experiences in leftist activism, which he has been involved in more or less non-stop for some four decades, are invaluable for radical thinkers and doers today. His criticisms of many persistent errors on the left, such as disdain for working-class interests and activities like sports and television, ring true, and the expansive amount of self-criticism in this book is commendable and rare for memoirs. The book could have used a better editor, though. There are some odd sentences here and there, some parts are quite repetitive, and thee are also absolutely baffling errors: for example, when Albert describes being given an award on behalf of the President of the Italian Republic (from context this seems to have been in 2004), he then comments that this was "at the time the proto-fascist Enrico Berlinguer". But Berlinguer was the chairman of the Communist Party of Italy, so not a "proto-fascist" by any stretch, had been dead for twenty years, and was never in his life President of Italy! In reality, the nonpartisan Carlo Azeglio Ciampi was President in 2004. This is just an example, but it shows that the book needed a double-checking before publishing. Otherwise, a good read.
Essential reading for activists prone to pessimism/hopelessness.......2007-09-03
This book made me profoundly hopeful, yet also somewhat sad. Albert offers such excellent analysis of present-day society, such excellent ideas for organizations, movement strategies, and such inspiring vision for a post-capitalist future, that I am left feeling hopeful that these ideas will eventually come to resonate with great masses of people. Yet I also feel sad, and somewhat bitter because this book also contains biting criticism of the American Left. We don't think strategically, we don't engage in serious debate, and Albert suggests that many of us are engaging in activism merely to feel better about ourselves, to fight the good fight, to be able to look at ourselves in the mirror, but without the conviction or the desire to actually win new liberating social institutions. The fact that no prominent Left media, such as Monthly Review, Counterpunch, the Progressive, In These Times, etc., will even touch parecon is but one example of our myopia. It is no exaggeration to assert that the future of the Left depends greatly on our taking seriously what Michael Albert has to say.
Radical History: Remembering Tomorrow: A Memoir.......2007-03-16
This is a wonderful personal memoir of the last fifty years as viewed and lived by one of the more important revolutionaries of our time. Among other subjects Michael Albert takes us through the years of establishing South End Press, Z Magazine and Znet, all of which he helped create. His
description of his relationship with Noam Chomsky as well as his analysis
of Chomsky the man and Chomsky the pursuer of social justice is worth the
price of the book, but he provides us with many more gems.
The book also details Albert's involvement in the peace movement when
he was a student at MIT with the intention of becoming a scientist. Politics intervened, however, and aside from radical politics he embarked
on a career as an economist. This would eventually lead him to begin mapping out the vision of what a post-capitalist society would look like.
This system he calls paracon, short for participatory economics.
The book also details the various prices a committed revolutionary
must pay, losing friends along the way, having one's best work largely
ignored and struggling to raise funds for important projects. Mr. Albert
also details his personal life, particularly his long relationship with
Lydia Sargent who has been his closest ally in most of his projects through the years.
I have admired Michael Albert, from afar, for many years, but that
admiration took a giant leap with the reading of this book. My only criticism is over his statement that he doesn't think he is a very good
writer. If inspiring a reader is a reflection of good writing then Mr.
Albert is indeed a fine writer.
Book Description
David Schweickart moves beyond the familiar arguments against globalizing capitalism to contribute something absolutely necessary and long overdue--a coherent vision of a viable, desirable alternative to capitalism. He names this system Economic Democracy, a successor-system to capitalism which preserves the efficiency strengths of a market economy while extending democracy to the workplace and to the structures of investment finance. Drawing on both theoretical and empirical research, Schweickart shows how and why this model is efficient, dynamic, and superior to capitalism along a range of values.
Customer Reviews:
Interesting alternative.......2005-07-28
Interesting alternative to the current economic system. The book "After Capitalism" is not a technical book, but does flesh out enough of the economic system invisioned by Schweickart to make it worth reading and thinking about. Is there "no alternative" to capitalism? I am still not sure, but read this book and find out for your self. According to Mises, socialism cannot work, and this really must be the case with Schweikart, but I am not sure I could articulate a proof.
Also read "The Machinery of Freedom" by David Freidman, for another alternative: the real free market.
don't miss this.......2005-06-17
I just want to add my voice to those who have lauded this book. It is superb in every way. Also, I want to call attention to Morris Berman's work, especially to his last two books, "Wandering God," and "The Twilight of American Culture", which provide important supplements to Schweickart's analysis.
A Coherent & Efficacious System, and a Pretty Good Read too!.......2004-11-10
Though perhaps it significantly skewed my views to have been reading Schweickart following a close and careful reading of both Friedman's Capitalism & Freedom and Rawls' Theory of Justice, I feel that not only aided me tremendously in my understanding of the overall flow and goal of the text, but additionally, the overall experience gave me sufficient background in economics and the political interactions of economic theory, to properly appreciate the aims of the text. Many criticisms have been raised against both Friedman and Rawls and I count my own voice amongst those that would offer the critique of necessary but insufficient to both texts based on my limited but careful exposure to them. By this I mean that in reading both previous texts I was struck with the thought that although both theories are needed at least on a purely theoretical basis to provide a jumping off point for further socioeconomic exploration, neither sufficiently brings forth a theory that can be said to at once be necessary to our continuation in culture (and note that by this I mean the sort of culture to which we have grown accustomed), and at the same time be sufficient to meet the needs of a production and workable model of economic policy.
Schweickart, very much on the other hand of the discussion, seems to bring forth a theory that is both necessary and sufficient, both in providing a basis for understanding its own purpose and for meeting the needs of a culture that is heavily imbued in a single system that must be equaled or exceeded to be replaced. To my way of seeing, this system provides a basis for understanding its own purpose in that unlike Friedman and Rawls, Schweickart's system is not merely a position piece describing the merits of a system already extant (capitalism), or the creation of a theory that will help us to justify aspects of that system; rather, it is a complete system unto itself, at once a response to the existing system, while standing on it's own independent of said system and then becoming and remaining recognizable as a unique approach to socioeconomic aspects of government that instead of merely flowing behind existing structure, is itself the basis forming the structure that will arise out of it. I feel that, as I stated above, this system meets the needs of the culture to which it would be applied by replacing the existing system, not merely modifying or justifying the current one. We have in this text something simply not found in the other two and that is a presentation of a possibility that has existed all along, coming to fruition by being read now in an age of understanding, by individuals capable of taking the theories presented and applying them to actuality and not simply as a ponderable aspect of economic and political interest. This is the point that struck me most plainly about Schweickart's text that seems so vastly different if not blatantly superior to many other writings either in philosophy, or from my limited exposure to them, economics, and that is the actual applicability of the text and, building off that, the ease with which a transition could be made into such as system and the clear benefits of doing so are made remarkable clear without having to imagine anything besides the benefits to be gained and the struggle to be avoided.
Now, I realize, and it's necessary for this critique to understand that the goal of Schweickart indeed may not have been the goal of either Friedman or Rawls, but I additionally feel it to be of great import that while both previous texts made claims to improve conditions of our social reality through impacting an economic change, neither before Schweickart had either shown their theory capable of performing such a feat, or had the components in place to succeed in doing so. With Friedman the reader is asked to assume a version of an economic model that today hardly seems viable in the face of the massive structure and paradigm shifts that have occurred since it was penned. Likewise in Rawls, the reader is asked to assume a great deal not only about the world in which we live in terms of its actual workings and processes, but also to assume an unlikely if not impossible and implausible original position, and for the goal only of justifying a current system that has already been shown to be insufficient, leaving one wondering what the point in fact was and what impact it truly makes other than providing for a theoretical basis and thought experiment. In Schweickart, the reader is not asked to assume this or that, and no original position is called for, as the system argued against is that which is in place and the flaws are not only seen but felt by the reader as actuality, and not as some wild fiscal figment as in the previous two texts. We see the problem, and perhaps what we previously perceived to be a degree of inevitability, already in our daily lives and Schweickart brings forth an alternative that while not nearly as convoluted as either Freidman or Rawls is nonetheless exponentially more efficacious in theory and infinitely more believable without the crutch of assumption leaned on by his predecessors.
I enjoyed reading this book and while as I wrote above I felt that the texts read previously were necessary for a clearer understanding of this one, it was not until this point that I understood why they were read when this was out there to tie it all together.
Is this already happening???.......2004-05-13
This is a good book. It was recommended to me by a friend who took the professor's philisophy class. The professor provides an excellent lesson on capitalism. The economic democracy that the professor proposes is fascinating because it eliminates capitalism. First, the professor explains why capitalists are inherently bad for democracy, then he explains how we can do without capitalists, then he explains how we being to phase capitalists and their effects out of society. This is not a book that comes from far out in left field. In fact, I am the son of a father who is a member of a worker-collective right here in Chicago. Economic democracy is happening, but will it go as far as proposed in this book? If economic democracy is superior to capitalism, is there any other alternative for our future?
A vision of "Economic Democracy".......2002-12-24
The evils of centrally planned socialism on the Soviet model are widely proclaimed, but capitalism has equally negative side effects: gross maldistribution of the fruits of the economy, the breeding of a mass consumer culture, and destruction of the environment among them. Capitalism may well collapse under its own excesses, but what would one propose to replace it? Margaret Thatcher's mantra was TINA...There Is No Alternative. David Schweickart's vision of "Economic Democracy" proposes a serious alternative. Even more fundamentally, it opens the door to thinking about alternatives. His may or may not turn out to be the definitive "successor system," but he is a leader in breaking out of the box.
Book Description
"What do you want?" is a constant query put to economic and globalization activists decrying current poverty, alienation and degradation. In this highly praised new work, destined to attract worldwide attention and support, Michael Albert provides an answer: Participatory Economics, "Parecon" for short—a new economy, an alternative to capitalism, built on familiar values including solidarity, equity, diversity and people democratically controlling their own lives, but utilizing original institutions fully described and defended in the book.
Customer Reviews:
very badly written.......2007-04-03
Definitely. We cannot count on Mr. Albert's ideas to move away from capitalism.
There is no "after capitalism".......2006-11-21
Because there is no "before capitalism." A stupid, stupid book designed to trick people into communism.
Better books on participatory economics out there.......2006-03-17
To find out about participatory economics, I read two books, The ABCs of Political Economy by Robin Hahnel and Parecon by Michael Albert. I would recommend the former over the latter. Admittedly, they cover somewhat different ground. The former critiques basic concepts in neoclassical economics in light of political economy and is not meant as a detailed exposition of participatory economics (parecon). But in defending political economy, Hahnel explains the moral foundations behind parecon's system of remuneration and parecon's critique of markets much more clearly and concisely than Albert does. And Albert's book is so turgid and repetitive that you arguably get a clearer picture of the parecon system (and of the various criticisms of the model) from Hahnel's one chapter on the subject than you do from Albert's whole book. Hahnel's book is a model of how to popularize complex ideas without condescension or oversimplification. You finish the book feeling he has equipped you to think for yourself. In his care to craft comprehensible prose, Hahnel is consistent with his own belief in popular democracy and open debate. Hahnel also practices what he preaches by debating with alternative points of view, quoting from other authors, referring to other traditions, and providing ample footnotes.
By contrast, Albert's style contradicts his avowed commitment to democracy and non hierarchical discourse. He writes like a member of the "coordinator" class he condemns. His writing exemplifies what Richard Lanham, in the tradition of Orwell, has called the "official style," a style laden with abstract nouns linked by prepositional phrases and passive verbs, a style designed not to communicate ideas clearly, but to overawe the reader with pseudo-scientific abstractions connoting bureaucratic mastery over reality. Moreover, unlike Hahnel, Albert largely ignores the long tradition of other authors who have speculated on the subject of life after capitalism and provides no footnotes or endnotes and only a very skimpy bibliography. He does not review other proposed systems of non-market, democratic planning and dismisses market socialism in only 1 1/2 pages as another version of class society. He thereby does little to discourage readers from fallaciously inferring that if they oppose capitalism they must favor the particular system he is proposing (notice how even the book's title, "Parecon: Life After Capitalism," encourages this fallacy). Although he does rehearse various criticisms of parecon, his summary of critics is cursory and brusque, his defense of himself long-winded and blustering. Hahnel, by contrast, carefully and respectfully articulates other perspectives before stating his own position.
In case you think I'm being too harsh, here are two examples of Albert's style (you could find similar sentences on almost every page):
"Different abilities to benefit from competitive exchange can also result from more accurate predictions about uncertain consequences or from differential knowledge of the terms of exchange (which in turn could stem from genetic differences in this particular 'talent' or differences in training or, more often, from different access to relevant information)."
As Lanham notes, in bureaucratic prose like this, you never know who is doing what to whom; agents and actions are obscured beneath heaps of abstract nouns. But that sentence was easier to digest than many. Try this one:
"Suppose in place of top-down central planning and competitive market exchange, we opt for cooperative, informed decision-making via structures that ensure actors a say in decisions in proportion as outcomes affect them and that provide access to accurate valuations as well as appropriate training and confidence to develop and communicate preferences--that is, we opt for allocation that fosters council-centered participatory self-management, remuneration for effort and sacrifice, balanced job complexes, proper valuations of collective and ecological impacts, and classlessness."
This is a defense of participatory economics written as if by a government policy wonk. For a clearer, more concise and effective defense, I'd turn to Hahnel.
It starts the ball rolling..........2005-06-04
If you're a Hobbesian type who feels that life is brutish, short, and that people are basically animals that need to be continually monitored, goaded into working, etc., then you'll probably find Albert's views offensive. TINA doctrine, (There Is No Alternative), is a powerful ideological force which Albert seeks to counteract. At the heart of this book is the concept of human nature and how this affects the ability to construct a more just economic system.
The first argument in support of TINA is typically along the lines of "without work and punishment, what would motivate people, because they are basically selfish?" Albert's latter chapters address this philosophical yet reality-based question head-on. He uses a compelling example. If you saw a large adult grab an ice cream cone out of a child's hand, pushing the child to the ground, what would you do? Albert says that of course, most of us would be outraged and may even come to the defense of the child. If humans are so animalistic and depraved, then why aren't more people pushing and shoving? Could it be that the forces around us, versus only our "inner selves," push and shove on us to make it more difficult to be good samaratins. Despite 24 hour, "me first," "screw you, hooray for me" individualism married to ultra-social-Darwinistic capitalism, people care about others and the values of commnity. Of course the state wants to convince us that we are under constant threat and that it is the police that keeps order. Oh really? Then why do they lose control of a crowd during a riot? I guess we need one policeman per person to keep us in check. Maybe we have such a thing as inner humanity and morality, which actually lessens the need for a police state.
I've often found another TINA defense funny. People often act that if capitalism weren't around to monitor people, the motive to work would mysteriously vanish. My response is, how do (did) tribes survive? Did Native American groups just sit around and starve without the "benevolent" foreman to "motivate" them along? Do local villages in all parts of the world today lounge around, waiting to be given direction? Heavens to Betsey, how DID any of us achieve human progress and purpose before capitalism? I mean, it's all of 300 years old. Compare that to, say, Ancient Egypt, and there's no contest, right? Albert aruges that work, producing value, is an essential part of being human. It is the alienating kinds of labor that the majority of the world is involved in that's the problem. Note that the top 20% who get to experience more autonomous and creative work ususally scratch their head trying to figure out why everyone is "whining." Albert points out that this same group also gets a) paid more even though they experience less harsh labor conditions, and b) gets more of a say in important political decisions! Under our current system, the message is "one-dollar-one-vote." If you aren't college eduated, you don't deserve a living wage, etc.
Albert rightly points to examples of unemployed communities taking back factories and turning them into productive entities. The only difference is that THEY, the WORKERS are the ones doing it, not state-owned socialism or market capitalism. The activism of the unemployed (who most automatically picture as lounging around and being stubborn at the same time) is tremendous in South and Central America.
It would take some time to implement Albert's ideas, mostly because the ideology of capitalism is more entrenched than we realize. Our entire system of hierarchy, where education supposedly equals merit (typically measured and reinforced via standardized tests), comes to bear in even the most liberal of the upper 20%. "I wouldn't want to do MENIAL work. That's what I went to college for" as if menial work isn't valuable and that we simply expect certain groups to do it (after all, they deserve to do it because they aren't smart or special like us).
I recommend this book for those interested in learning something new about something old...human nature.
Just another attempt at brainwashing the masses.......2004-02-17
This book is good for two audiences:
1. People who are socialists and want to read more ways they can implement their big plans to destroy capitalism.
2. People who are reasonable/capitalists who want to read a laughable proposal to unite the masses and bring down the great evil capitalist societies of the world.
So basically this book is suitable for anyone. But seriously, it is simply another way to say "Down with successful people! I deserve an equal share of the economic pie just because I'm a human and I'm equal to everyone else!" and other familiar chants of the far, far left wing. It's actually quite amazing to me that people still propose such nonsensical "progressive" ideas to implement socialism and can keep a straight face. Some people are incapable of reason and/or learning apparently. This book tries to counter the common (as in common-sense) attacks on socialism and uses the familiar notion that past attempts at socialism were different or implemented incorrectly and that this new great revolutionary book has the answers to make sure the next attempt is successful.
Book Description
Following the equal-rights struggles of the 1960s, feminism became involved in the theoretical problems posed by poststructuralism, psychoanalysis, semiotics, queer theory, postcolonialism, and Marxism. After years of debate about whether feminism can or should accommodate these other modes of contemporary thought, Ludic Feminism and After provides a way of making a leap forward.
Teresa Ebert rethinks such notions as "pleasure," "essentialism," "performance," "labor," "class," "body," and "difference" through readings of influential texts by feminists such as Gayatri Spivak, Rigoberta Mench, Donna Haraway, Jane Gallop, Judith Butler, Diana Fuss, and Teresa de Lauretis. She not only engages the theories of Derrida, Foucault, Lyotard, and Baudrillard, but also moves beyond the academic arena to address the "backlash" phenomenon and the writings of "popular" critics like Camille Paglia. Ebert argues that the crisis of feminist theory in postmodernity is about the very meaning of politics and the possibility for effective social change.
The future of feminism and feminist theory, believes Ebert, lies in reclaiming radical knowledge(s) that have been obscured by what she calls "ludic theory": the branch of postmodernism that sees politics primarily as a linguistic and textual practice, and focuses on subverting cultural representations of difference. She argues instead for the possibilities of a "resistance postmodernism" in feminism: theory grounded in the social struggle over the "material differences" of labor and access to economic means and resources.
Ebert's provocative and powerful book challenges ludic feminism within the academy, and outlines transformative politics and feminist theory that can address material crises, such as the international trade in young women for prostitution, dowry murders in India, and the genocidal rape in Bosnia. The author seeks to go beyond dominant theories to open a radically new space for an active third wave feminism. Ludic Feminism and After is sure to be influential and controversial.
Teresa Ebert is Associate Professor of English, State University of New York at Albany.
Average customer rating:
- Not bad -- but could be better
- Mediocre
- A new view of the future
- The e-future is already here
- The collection of fine lie
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Netocracy: The New Power Elite and Life After Capitalism
Alexander Bard , and
Jan Soderqvist
Manufacturer: FT Press
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ASIN: 1903684293 |
Book Description
The world will not live without logos, but neither will capitalism silently take over democracy. So, what comes next? After capitalism comes Netocracy. Those who can harness networks of information and master new forms of communication will control finance and legislation, forming the new business and government elites. They will inherit the power; they are the Netocrats.
Customer Reviews:
Not bad -- but could be better.......2007-08-06
The original text was written in 2000, and now seven years later, I can say that many ideas presented in the book have proved right. Translation to English is of mediocre quality though. The book is filled with long, run-on sentences and suffers from extremely poor punctuation. The same ideas, by the way, are discussed to a much greater extent in The Dream Society by Rolf Jensen.
Mediocre.......2007-01-31
I checked this book out for some background research on a paper that I'm working on for a conference. I had hoped it would be more scholarly and was quite disappointed.
This is a Tom Peterseque foray into the topic. And, that's fine, if you like that genre of work. I'm sure that my partner would eat up this book...and for a Saturday read, I'd leaf through this book.
However, noting that the book crosses different disciplines (inner jacket) proves a false assertion. Frankly, I can see how another reviewer referred to this book as "pseudo" intellectual. The boot fits.
A new view of the future.......2007-01-10
The authors present theire view of a completly new economic system that will is generated by the information devices now available. How capitalism is being replaced by the information economy.
The e-future is already here.......2005-08-18
The book with super ideas! But you should find them in the informational flow. And if you find and understand them - you will get the new power - the knowledge that will enable you to reach everything you want in the new net-environment.
BTW recently I noticed that the official Netocracy site www.thenetocrats.com started to work. So the new netocrats society will be in power very soon!
The collection of fine lie.......2005-04-14
Bard and Zonderquist, based on traditional historical assumptions, try to do conclusions about the future of society. Authors are indoubtedly strong in perception of a present situation, and only thanks to this it is possible to forgive forecasts and think on updating perception of the past (see ISBN: 2913621023 for a radical history revision). They show, why the ruling class will be replaced by a new one, but do not show how they will do.
Bard paints a picture where the new social does replaces but not coexists with current formations (par examples, feodalism is not dead yet!) There are no concrete examples of social networks that will survive in near future and/or gain momentum; Bard mockingly hints that the changes will so deft that we can't notice it yet.
Perfect book. Don't rely on it. Don't trust it. Try your own way on perceiving reality and the past. And may be you get high ranks netocratic society. If there are any ranks would exist!
Average customer rating:
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Life After Death: Widows And The English Novel, Defoe To Austen
Karen Bloom Gevirtz
Manufacturer: University of Delaware Press
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- Beauty For Ashes: Receiving Emotional Healing (Revised Edition)
- Buckets of Money: How to Retire in Comfort and Safety
- Complex Inequality: Gender, Class and Race in the New Economy (Perspectives on Gender (New York, N.Y.).)
- Conflict Resolution
- Crimes Against Nature: How George W. Bush and His Corporate Pals Are Plundering the Country and Hijacking Our Democracy
- Disciplined Minds: A Critical Look at Salaried Professionals and the Soul-Battering System That Shapes Their Lives
- Distressed Debt Analysis: Strategies for Speculative Investors
- Don't Sweat the Small Stuff at Work
- Dreaming in Code: Two Dozen Programmers, Three Years, 4,732 Bugs, and One Quest for Transcendent Software
- Dyslexia In Adults: A Practical Guide for Working and Learning
Books Index
Books Home
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Making War and Building Peace: United Nations Peace Operations
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