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Beyond Capitalism

To build and take an anti capitalist movement forward, as per the title of this book, we need to reject capitalism but also to advocate a new system in its place and to act in light of not only our critique but also the strategic and organizational implications of our goals. What is a viable anti-capitalist vision? What immediate strategic implications can we draw from it?


Participatory Economics Instead of Capitalism

Capitalism incorporates private ownership of the means of production, market allocation, and corporate divisions of labor. Remuneration is for property, power, and to a limited extent contribution to output. Class divisions arise due to property and also due to differential access to empowered versus obedient work. Huge differences in decision-making influence and quality of circumstances exist. Buyers and sellers one-up each other. The public reaps the social and ecological catastrophes that self-interested competition sows.

To transcend capitalism, suppose we advocate common leftist core values: solidarity, diversity, equity, self-management, and ecological sustainability. What institutions can propel these values as well as admirably accomplish economic functions?... .


Participatory economics includes

• Self managing workplace and consumer councils for equitable participation

• Diverse decision-making procedures seeking proportionate say for those effected by decisions

• Balanced job complexes creating just distribution of empowering and dis-empowering circumstances

• Remuneration for effort and sacrifice in accord with worthy moral and economic logic

• Participatory planning in tune with economics serving human well being and development

Together these features constitute the core institutional scaffolding of participatory economics, a systemic alternative to capitalism and also to what has been called centrally planned or market socialism but which is really more instructively labeled coordinatorism. Are there fuller formulations of this particular economic vision’s morality and its logic? Most certainly there are.

I should say, at this point, that in my view economic vision and agenda is not enough. I am emphasizing economics because it is my main area of investigation and because the assignment was to address capitalism. But we also need political, cultural, and gender related vision and agenda. Our positive movements should not just be anti capitalist and not even that plus pro participatory economics in its place. They should also be anti authoritarian, anti racist, and anti sexist, and they should be pro a new political, cultural, and kinship vision as well.

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